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Prem Rawat:

Hello, everyone. I hope you’re all well—and, you know, I know that the time is going on and it’s, you know, it can become a little bit like, you know, you’re dragging your feet and it’s just trying to just slowly, slowly, slowly go somewhere....

Of course, you hear so much indecision from the leaders, (so-called “leaders”), and here, there, everywhere. But then it always has to come back to what’s important, important to you, as it relates to your life, to your existence.

Because, you know, there have been things, you know, it’s like, “This is bad. We have to go back to work; we have to do this; we have to do that.” And there are, you know, there are many different thoughts about that; you know, “If there is no economy; what is that going to be like?” They’re already talking about “If, you know, all the people who would not have food, the people who would go hungry, what would that be like?”

And you know, we can talk about all these things all day long. There’s a lot of speculation—and of course, we don’t need to go hungry in this world; there’s plenty of food. And, you know, it has to be managed. You cannot have hoarders. You cannot have people who are just saying, “I want it; I want it; I want it.”

And we saw that—we saw that with toilet paper. And people were hoarding toilet paper, toilet paper rolls. (Why would you want to hoard toilet paper roll, I don’t know.) And I just recently did a podcast interview. And, you know, the Indians have definitely got the whole world beat on that issue. Because a lot of them don’t use toilet paper; they don’t need to use toilet paper.

So, what is the reality, at this point where you’ve got so much noise that’s going on, and everywhere? Well, the reality is still inside of you. And it’s just as beautiful. Regardless of the picture being painted, regardless of the picture being what it is, there is a reality that is very simple and that is very beautiful. And that reality is that you are.

You weren’t—there was a time you weren’t in this world. Now you are. And there will be a time that you won’t be. And the reality says, “But right now you are. Do you know who you are; do you know why you are here; do you know what is going on with you?” Because, whatever happens outside in this world, if you can hang on; if you can be....

And I remember, it was quite a few years ago, (unfortunately), but there was a wonderful gentleman and he used to do survival training—in fact, he had done the survival training for the first crew that went to the moon.

And his whole thing was that “Somehow, you, you as a human being, ultimately have to keep it together. And then if you can, if you can be in that good shape, you can look around you and you can try to make sense of whatever there is around you.”

And one of the examples that he used to give, quite a bit, was that there was a girl—and she was on an airplane along with a whole bunch of people. And the plane crashed—and she’s the only one who made it out, out of the forest. Everybody else tried or whatever, but—you know, and a lot of people perished during the crash. But she survived—somehow she survived.

And this becomes the focus of our life; this has to be the focus of our life, understanding and working with those elements that we are all about, that truly define us.

Yes, they may be hard times—because of this coronavirus. You know, and that would be because of the way we have set it up. It wouldn’t be the way nature has set it up; it is the way we have set it up. We want certain things to be a certain way; we are not willing to change.

And this is one of those things; you know, are we going to go back to being our old selves, you know, polluting everything and doing it the wrong way? And the answer to that is, unfortunately, yes, because we don’t like to be different. We like to do the “same old, same old, same old, same old, same old, same old.”

You know, when cars came, there were a lot of people who couldn’t relate to the cars, who couldn’t relate to what that was all about—and they were predicting that “This wouldn’t last very long; that this is really bad. But, and you know, it makes horrible noises; it’s, and, you know, but it’s awkward. Horses are so much better,” and so on.

So, you always have had this tussle between people who are the, you know, “Everything is going to be bad and, you know, we’re all going to die and everything is going to be terrible”—and then, those people who can realistically take a look at it.

Because one of the things you have—what you have going for you is the human ingenuity to persevere, to persevere through the bad times.

We have been through World War I; many, many people, many millions of people got killed in it. Word War II, even more got killed in it. We have the Spanish flu, 1918, a lot of people got killed in it. And there are so many similarities between that story and what’s unfolding with coronavirus now.

But what about you as a human being? What about your understanding? What are you bringing to the table; what are you bringing, first of all, to yourself? What are you offering to your being?

In the midst of all this, you know, when I finally got from Recife to Florida, and then—Florida was nice and warm—but when I got to Los Angeles, it was cold. And it has been cold; every day it has been cold. Some days it’s been rainy, but even those days when the sun is shining, it’s, the wind is very, very cold.

And just now, that “warm” is starting—and the temperatures are starting to inch up towards seventy-four, seventy-five, eighty, so on—and the spring is here. And there are all these little birds that are making their nests; they’re singing.

There are all these flowers; there are all these plants; there’s the greenery—and here, especially in this part of the country, where not too long ago, there was a horrible, horrible fire. And somehow nature is coming back and trying to erase every evidence of that fire, that that fire ever was.

And it’s doing a really good job. Because when, after the fire, when I saw it, it was pretty desolate. It was, there was nothing there. And now it’s just so much green, so much green that’s just flourishing.

So, when I look around me and I see these birds—you know, and these birds that—but they don’t, you know, they don’t have a lot of education; their education is what their mom and dad have taught them and whatever little experience they have in their life—but they’re going on. They’re not caught up in these stupid debates; they’re not caught up in these really, really weird ways of looking at things.

I mean, “Should there be debates,” yes, there should be debates—but they should be of valid debates, they should be of valid reasons and valid things. Not somebody’s fear. They shouldn’t be based upon somebody’s very dark way of looking at something—but realistic. Realistic is good.

And when you don’t know, you don’t know. And so maybe you put your best foot forward and it is not something that is a popular decision. I mean, coronavirus is not a popular virus; let’s face it—and what it is doing is not very popular either. And so, the decisions that have to be taken to curtail it, (I am not surprised), are not very popular either.

But we have to do, collectively, all the people around the world, because this—it is, for the first time, that we are all tied together. Whether we are rich, whether we are poor, this coronavirus doesn’t look at it. You know, whether we are educated, whether we are uneducated, it doesn’t look at it. Whether we are powerful, whether we are weak, it doesn’t look at it. You know, it, anybody....

And we’re all one; all of a sudden, we’re all one. And but all we want to do is divide and divide and divide and divide. And we have been dividing. We have taken land that had no boundaries—and we have drawn arbitrary boundaries and say, “That’s mine. And that’s yours. And that you are there, and you’re this and you’re that.”

And when you fly, you know, there are no boundaries; it is the way it is. You fly from one area to another area—birds do it all the time. They don’t go through, you know, “But here is my passport; can I come in; I’m going to be coming in for two months, three months, four months,” no.

So, at some point in time, we have to take a look at “What are we up to?” Polluting the planet, abusing the planet, abusing the resources—and not leaving anything for the next generation. Because everything is “hoard, hoard, hoard, hoard”—everything is “mine, mine, mine, mine”—and nobody’s looking at what the consequences of that, that’s going to be.

And you as a human being have something really wonderful to offer, not only to yourself but to the whole mankind. And those things are kindness, your generosity—these things, your clarity, your hope, not only for yourself but for the whole mankind. You can give that; you can be that.

This is a gift; only when you have enough of it can you share. When that kindness is in your heart, then you can share that kindness with other people. And when you do, it doesn’t deplete any kindness from you. It multiplies it; it gets more and more.

Hope, not only for yourself, but for all those who are around you. Understanding, understanding and empathizing with the world that is around you, so you can be a part of this world, so you can be a part of this, to contribute something to this world, not just take, take, take, take, take. Because that’s what people do, is they just take; they take; they take; they take.

But to give. To give because you have enough of it, because it is overflowing from you. And then this can be a wonderful—this can be a wonderful place. We would have created a heaven, each one of us, not only for ourselves but for all mankind, regardless of their beliefs, regardless of what they think, regardless of how they think.

Create a little heaven for all of us, for as long as we are on this beautiful earth, that we have created a heaven, not only for us but for all the creatures, for all, all that are here.

And I don’t know; maybe it’s time to think like that. And the reason why—because this is a big reset. And how is it that we’re going to be when we go back to being normal, to be in that normal situation? Because this is the time to ponder those things, time to think again. Not just because we were there does that make them right.

No, it is a great time to put the house back in order. It is a great time to come home and say, “Okay, let’s do this right. Now we know how to do it wrong—now let’s see if we can do this right.”

I know that’s asking a lot. I know that’s asking a lot of this world. I know there are some people who will agree with me, some people who will disagree: “No, no, it’s going to be this; it’s going to be that.”

But you know, after all, (and I have given this example many times), that when that challenge came—(and this was the country, America), that they had to go to the moon; they wanted to go to the moon—there were a lot of people who said, “It cannot be done. It cannot be done.”

Did those missions—were they successful going to the moon because of those people who said “It cannot be done”—or were they successful because of those few people who said, “Yes, it can be done”?

If history has something to teach us, this world belongs to those who have the courage, who have the understanding, to make it go forward in a beautiful way, in a way that fulfills your heart—that truly, nobody is being, you know, taken advantage of.

But truly, to let everybody feel themselves, to feel what this life is all about, to feel the gratitude, to know yourself, to live this life consciously—and to have a heart full of gratitude. To go forward with those most powerful tools of understanding—and see what happens.

I mean, just to see what happens, even if it’s—you know, maybe everybody just wants to see this world just totally unhealthy and destroyed and whatever. But to see how it can be, how beautiful it can be—that we respect each other because we know how to respect ourselves.

And it is not about “I,” because you do share this planet with all those creatures and all those people. It really is about “we”—but as, only a strong “I” that can respect “we.” A weak “I” cannot understand the concept of “we.” And when we don’t, it shows our weakness to ourselves.

So, I hope that, you know, you stay well and you stay healthy. And be. Be enjoying this life that you have. A lot of different things are being worked on—and at some point, I think we’re going to need to regroup.

Because when I came to, through Florida, I just started making the first, (you know, using my iPhone), started making the first broadcasts. And I’d upload them to a person who is in Florida who does all the editing. And so nothing is set up.

And now we need to set up for the training, especially with the PEP, which I think is going to be very exciting, to—if we go that way, a lot of feedback has to come. And it’s kind of like, I don’t know what final shape it’ll take.

But if you get the training one day, then you have the second day for reflection and writing to me, what you’re thinking, what your reflections are. And then I take some of those reflections, (not all of them), some of those reflections that I think are important and share them with you.

So it’s like, one day training—and then one day for the reflections to come in, and then one day to share those reflections. And then, again, the training—and then one day off to get all those materials. And so we’ll have to set up virtually, all these places where, when the responses come, when the feedback comes, when the reflections come, they can be processed and sent virtually to me.

So, it’s something that, you know, we haven’t done in the past, but I think it could be a fun challenge to have. And training is—I think PEP training is just really wonderful. So, I’m looking forward to that, when that comes through. And it’s going to take a few days to set it up, but we’ll see when that time comes.

So, thank you very much and I’ll see you soon.

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Prem Rawat:

Hello, everyone. I hope you’re all well. What I’d like to talk about today is a little bit different—because it has a lot to do with you, as in regards to everything else that happens in this world.

So, you know, from a very early age, we are told what to do and what not to do. Now, please, don’t take this the wrong way; I’m not trying to say that that’s right or wrong. I’m just saying there comes a point in one’s life where you have to look at that, just look at it for whatever it’s worth.

So, we go along and, you know, when we are very, very young we are told, “No, you can’t do this; don’t do that; that’s not good”—and maybe we’re taking our toy and ramming it against the wall and the parents say, “Don’t do that”—and so we stop.

And in this whole process, it is important to listen to what people are telling us. And so, pretty soon, there is, of course, a want, a desire to do something—but then there is the outside influence which is saying whether you can or cannot do it. Now, this goes on. And every step of the phase of your life, things like that happen.

So you get a little bit older and you start going to school—and then a whole myriad of responsibilities are introduced to you. And you’re told what you can do and you cannot do—again, this is what you’re told. Then you get a little bit older; you also start getting a lot of friends—and it’s the same thing; you’re now again being told by a different group of people what it is that you can and cannot do.

Then you get older—and you get different kinds of friends. But again, there are rules; there are limitations; there’s discipline. And whether that’s good or bad, I’m not making that judgment at all. You know, some of it we do need because just how it is.

Then we keep on going—and maybe we get a job. Now we have a different group of people—and we have bosses; we have colleagues. And they tell us “what it is that I can do, or we can do or not do.” And it keeps on going like that.

And the point of all this is that “Okay, why look at it”—because maybe at some point in time in that whole stretch that we have that we call “existence,” we have to make some important decisions. I have been trying to please the world; we try to do that—whatever the world says, “Yes, we’ll do this; we will do this; we will do this; we will do this.”

But there comes a time when I need to look at me as me and this existence as mine. Not somebody else’s, not somebody else’s idea of who I should be, but my idea of who I should be. I have to dig in and I have to understand what my reality is; who, who am I? What am I? What are my needs? These are the things that I want to flourish.

So, it’s as though I have been this perfect little soldier—and the world has commanded me to “march, march, march, march,” and I have marched. They’ve told me, “Go, do this; go, do that; think this way; think that way....”

But you know, before this life passes you by—and it’s gone—and for you, never to have it again, it would be nice if you, the one who has this life, was to take a little time and look at you, not as the world, but look at you and look at your world. Look at what your needs are, look at what your heart is telling you. What that fundamental “you” really is.

Now, I know that there are people who are afraid; they’re afraid to acknowledge themselves that way. Because what if they look at themselves and they find something ugly?

But you know how many chances you take; you take an awful lot of chances in this world. You get in your car and you head out; you go to a freeway. You’re driving on a freeway—and you’re taking a chance—that somebody isn’t going to come and slam into you. Sometimes that happens.

You’re taking a chance that those tires that you are riding on, those four tires will stay intact. You’re taking a chance that your brakes won’t fail.

If you go flying, you’re taking a chance that somebody who was putting together the wing, you know, didn’t try to beat the rivet into shape, because the rivet was being a little bit unruly—and beat it so hard that, you know, now the plane is unsafe and one thing happens and the plane just comes apart.

It’s not like that would be the first time that that would have happened—no, it has happened before. Somebody maybe got a little bit too excited about, you know, that hammer and that engine and, you know, that engine starts to fall apart. That—that has happened.

So, we take chances. And we take a chance on everybody. We take a chance on our friends, that they’re good. We take a chance on our job that that is good; we take a chance on our boss that he’s good.

But we never take a chance on ourselves. And I think, sooner or later, that time is going to come when you have to take a chance on yourself. You’re going to have to say, “Okay, I want to know; I want to experience my life as it is meant to be experienced.” Not by people’s definition of how it should be experienced, but how it really, really, really, really must be experienced.

That simplicity—the simplicity of life, the simplicity of existence, what is that simplicity really like? What is it like to awaken and have a longing and a thirst in your heart to be fulfilled?

And not to put that away, not to say, “Okay, I’ll go do something and I’ll cure this”—but to sit with it and feel, feel that thirst—of how beautiful and how important it is that that thirst exists as the great motivator, to motivate us to find that peace, to find that fulfillment in our lives.

To totally transform—from being just this little soldier, this wooden soldier that just marches and marches and marches—to sitting down and accepting that sea of serenity that exists inside of every single human being.

And what is it like to see you through your eyes? Not somebody else’s eyes, not through somebody else’s interpretation, but through your eyes? What is it like to welcome you from your heart, your existence, not judging it, not judging how it is, not judging “this is right and that’s wrong.”

And not splitting your world into just “right and wrong and right and wrong and right and wrong,” even though that’s the mantra that you’ve been taught. And that’s the mantra you have been reciting since you were very, very young: “Right, wrong, right, wrong, right, wrong....”

But there is something beyond this right and wrong—and it is good, and it’s beautiful, and it’s simple—and it is your existence. It’s about you. It’s not about your fantasies, but it’s about you, your fulfillment, not the fulfillment of other people’s expectations.

Because, you know, you see a sign for a soft drink and it’s like, “Yeah, oh, we should have this.” Because—and they’re telling you that “If you have this, you will be satisfied.” The reality is, not you; it is the company that will be satisfied if you were to buy their soft drink.

And this is how it has been. You do certain things.... But before this life passes you by—because it is; it’s passing by very, very quickly—and pretty soon, before you realize it, it’ll be gone.

And I’m not talking about coronavirus or this situation today. But I’m talking about just how it is. It’s all too short a period of time. And for you to realize that you came—and you maybe were not understood by this whole world—but you were understood by you. That you sought to be fulfilled amongst the vast emptiness of this, crazy thoughts that we have had.

It wasn’t that long ago that human beings embarked on a very distinct path of existence—and it was with farming. Because with farming came this whole idea of protection—you had to be protected because you would work so hard; it takes time; it is up to nature that your crop comes up—and then somebody comes and steals it.

And all that food that had to be transported back and forth—the idea of roads, the idea of soldiers; the ideas of a king; the ideas of what the current society is, are very relatively starting from that time of when farming began. (Now, I could be wrong—but this is what I have read.)

Before that, we were different; we lived differently. We didn’t exist for a particular thing; we weren’t tied down to anywhere—because we could just go wherever we could go, find food—we lived for food. And whatever food we could find, we would bring it back....

But the farming gave us this opportunity to, you know—one person creates all the food—and then a whole bunch of us don’t have to be occupied with that occupation; we can sit at home, do whatever we want to do and we’ll get our food.

We have been trying to make the “land of milk and honey” everywhere, every household. But that’s not the case. The case is, “Okay, you’ve been trying to do all this.” And maybe someday we will succeed. So far, the track record is that we have not succeeded and there is no indication whatsoever that we will in the near future.

Because the drama that it would require for us to un-click out of that is incredible. It takes something like this coronavirus to bring home a point about us being human. This is what that coronavirus is telling us.

I mean, I know it’s not—it can’t speak; it’s—but this is what has happened. There has been a stark reality; there has been the brakes that have been applied to this bus that was just going off a cliff somewhere.

And the brakes have been applied and people are like—the only thing, there is a certain group of people, the only thing they’re interested in, “Get that bus going; get that bus going; get that bus going,” even if it means the bus is going off the deep end—but they just want to get the bus going.

Whilst there needs to be an understanding of “What is this all about? How do we want to be? How do we want to live?” And I’m not—you know, I’m no doctor for society—but I am an advocate for understanding every individual that is on the face of this earth.

That I see that potential—that when every human being, (as many as possible), can be strong, then that strength will make us all strong—to go forward, to take those tough decisions that we have to take, make a better life for all of us. For all of us.

But it begins with truly looking at yourself as a human being. All the chances that we take with the world, to take a chance with us. To take a chance with this heart, to take a chance with the need that exists inside of you to be fulfilled.

You know, too many people, when you mention the word “peace,” it all falls apart and people start to—you know, there are the yeasayers and there are the naysayers. And unequivocally, everywhere you go, anywhere around in the world you go, there are the naysayers and there are the yeasayers. “Yes, that’s a great idea”—“No, that’s never going to happen.”

But to go beyond that—and say, “Why do I have a need in me for peace? Why, why is it that I want freedom?” I mean, after all, whenever the word “freedom” is said, it sounds so good. But what’s binding you? I mean, unless you’re incarcerated—but you’re not, maybe not—what’s binding you? Why do you like the idea of freedom?

Because, maybe you don’t physically see that you’re incarcerated, but you are incarcerated from that true freedom, from that true feeling that you want to have in your heart, in yourself.

Now, you know, people say, “Well, where is the heart? I mean, is it here; is it here; is it here?” Well, what difference does it make? You know. Is it that a person should be at a particular address—or wherever that person happens to be, that is what is of importance, not the address itself.

If that person is not at his house—you want to meet a person who is not at his house but he is at the corner post office, so be it. And you will meet him at the corner post office.

Because it is the connection with the person? Or is it the connection with the address? A lot of people want the connection with the address; they don’t care about the person. They will never meet that person; they will never understand who you are.

Because you have to say, “It’s not a question of where—but I do have a heart.” There is one part of me that aspires to find peace, that aspires me to find joy, that aspires me to be happy, that aspires me to know, that aspires me towards clarity, that aspires me towards fulfillment—I call that the heart. By the way, that’s what I call the heart.

That which inspires me to do strange things, weird things sometimes, that’s another part of me. But there is a part of me that I welcome, that I want to know, that I want to understand more and more and more and as much as I can. Of course, before this life passes me by, to welcome it, to understand it, to find my strength in that part, because it’s real.

I need to be real; you need to be real; the world needs to be real. And we need to be real to ourselves. We need to take a chance in us being alive, being fulfilled.

So, be well; be healthy; be safe; be—and I’ll talk to you later. Thank you.

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

Prem Rawat:

Hello, everyone. I hope you’re all doing well under the circumstances—and today, again, we’re going to be going through some questions that you have written in. Now, these aren’t all of the questions.

But one of the questions from Emmanuel is, “What solutions would you like to see for all humanity and this world within your lifetime?”—so, I see in my lifetime....

Well, I don’t really have a long list. My list is rather simple; I would like to see a little bit less greed. I would like to see a little bit more kindness; I would like to see a little bit more generosity. I would like to see people first—then everything else.

I would like to see the hunger eliminated. There’s no reason for it unless the person wants to be hungry. Now, of course, you know, eliminating hunger doesn’t mean that you force-feed everybody. If somebody really wants to be hungry, fine; that’s fine.

But, you know, those things that are just unnecessary—and are because of our bad behavior on the face of this earth. And if we can eliminate that, have a little more kindness all around, have a little bit better understanding of ourselves—which will help us understand other people, because they are just like us.

And less of these differences that people have, you know, “You’re Chinese; you’re this, you’re that,” but no, just look at the human beings as human beings. And the variety that we have, welcome it; welcome the differences.

You know, and people just pointing down at other groups that are different—to stop that. You know, that just to treat human beings as human beings, whatever their preferences might be, however they want to live, however they want to exist, however they want to be—to have a society that is tolerant of that—not intolerant, but tolerant of that.

And so, you know, that’s, I guess, a pretty long list, but that’s what I’d like to see, just a little bit less of that greed, you know, a little bit less of that anger, a little bit less of that macho, bully-on-the-block that every country wants to be. Just a little bit less—I think that would make a huge difference.

And sensitivity to the nature, the environment, to make things right with the environment, to make right things with all the creatures on the face of this earth, rather than seeing ourselves as the custodian of them and then doing nothing.

If we are going to see ourselves as the custodian, if we are going to see ourselves as the crown of creation, then we’d better act like one, like the crown of creation—and help all those creatures, rather than, you know, all that means is you have ownership of it. But that doesn’t mean anything if you don’t take care of it. So, that’s what I’d like to see.

And then there is another question from Rita, “Thank you for, again for sharing beautiful and interesting insights into this lockdown period. I’m so happy you will be doing trainings with us”—and these are the PEP trainings. And that, yes, they will be for everybody, because they’ll come out just like this. So, whoever wants to go through it....

Oh yeah, and talking about PEP—it was brought to my attention that a lot of people watching don’t actually have any idea what PEP is. So, what is PEP? Well, PEP stands for Peace Education Program.

I have some statistics here. The Prem Rawat Foundation, (which is TPRF), started the program worldwide in 2012—and in 2013, began collecting meaningful statistics. The Peace Education Program is eight years old; it’s working in six continents: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe and Australia, (Oceania area).

There have been more than eighty-five countries since 2012—currently active in thirty-nine countries, translated into thirty-five languages, presented in 600 correctional facilities globally—and total attendees since inception is nearing 94,000. (So, that was as of March first, so some of that has changed, I’m sure.)

And in different areas, in South America, Australia/Oceania area, North America, Europe, Asia, Africa—so, adult learning center, (the type of facility), there have been forty of these PEP trainings, twenty-nine in the Australia/Oceania area, twenty-two in North America—and Europe, fifty; Asia, seven; Africa, nine.

Business organizations: sixty-four in South America and nothing in Oceania, nothing in North America. Europe, four; Asia, two; Africa, four. Civic and government: fifty-four of these trainings have happened in South America; eight in Oceania; twenty-three in North America; thirty-six in Europe; forty in Asia and ten in Africa.

So, it goes on like this—and you know, corporations and foundations: forty in South America; two in Australia; sixteen in North America—Europe is twenty-two; Asia is thirty; in Africa is fourteen. Educational: 355 in South America; Australia, twenty-three; North America, seventy-seven; Europe, 132.

Anyway, the grand total—so it covers veterans, special groups, senior centers, police and law enforcement, non-profit and NGOs, health and wellness, educational, correction and prison, corporations and foundations, community centers, libraries, civic and government, business organizations and adult learning centers....

All put together, 843 of these trainings have happened in South America; 244 in Pacific/Oceania area; 985 in North America; 910 in Europe; 360 in Asia; 722 in Africa. That’s just a little introduction to PEP. It’s a really, really, really simple program. Because of its simplicity; it’s successful.

And so, it is a series of lectures that are given by me in different environments—some are direct to camera; some are at different events that I did—and then the participants are just simply asked to reflect on what they have heard and pay attention.

And I guess it’s just that “paying attention” business that makes all the difference. That if you could just closely look at what is being said and then give it some thought, that that’s what makes a big difference. Anyways, so that’s what PEP is and yes, it’ll be open to everyone.

The question, the next one, (no name), but, “Whenever I do any work with full concentration, I do it once, twice, but after that, I lose my concentration and continuity. I easily forget to do right works, but not the wrong ones.”

You know, I don’t know what exactly your situation is. But wandering off, losing focus, losing concentration, that happens to a lot of people, so first of all, you’re not alone. But secondly, most importantly, a little discipline goes a long ways into keeping you focused.

Because, you know, we become so easily adapted to, “Am I enjoying this or not?” Sometimes the enjoyment comes a little bit later—and you have to have patience for that. You know, not everything is instantly rewarding all the time. And in life, that’s a lesson you have to learn.

So, a little bit of discipline, a little bit of patience, a little bit of those powers that you have—will go a long ways in helping you out in your situation.

“I have been to a lot of teachers”—somebody who’s been searching. And the question is, “How will I know I’ve found the real one? How would I know?”

Well, it’s not a question of real one or a fake one—but something that your heart will tell you. Somebody who touches your heart—that’s what teaching about life, a teacher about life needs to be, that, somebody who touches your heart.

Not just your mind; not just engage your mind—but somebody that touches your heart, that has that encompassing feeling and sees you as a human being, not somebody who is searching for truth but just as a human being. And keeps looking at you as a human being for the rest of your life. That what that teacher offers is something from their heart to your heart. So, I hope that helps.

“Dear Prem, in your Lockdown talks about ‘consequences from actions’”—I knew I was going to get something on that—“you say that it’s in that moment called now....” And that, yeah, the moment called “now” is where all actions take place. That’s it; that’s the bottom end of that.

“Please help me understand, how can I make my life more successful and simpler by just choosing the right action and avoiding the wrong ones?” Look, your life is simple. This is how it is. Now, you have brought in all the little bits and pieces that make it complicated. The process of making this happen is taking away, is a process of subtraction, not addition.

What am I talking about? All right, so you’ve got a white shirt. You’ve got a white shirt—you realize it’s dirty. How do you clean the white shirt? Do you go out and buy “cleanliness” in a bottle and pour it over the white shirt? No. You go and you buy detergent which removes the dirt.

The cleanliness is already there—but it is being masked by the dirt. When you take away the dirt, the cleanliness comes right back.

That’s how it is in life, too. We make things very complicated; we like it. You know, “This is how it is; this is how it is; this is how it is.” And the next thing you know, there is so much noise between the ears that you can’t even hear yourself.

So the process of making life more enjoyable, making life more simple is a process of subtraction, not addition. It’s not—but we’re so used to adding things, you know; we’re so used to adding things that we are like, “Okay, I have to add enjoyment to my life now.” No, life is actually very enjoyable just as it is.

And if you don’t find it enjoyable, it is because you have brought in all this dirt called “complication,” all these ideas, all these pictures that you have in your little camera that are just pumping away, picture after picture after picture after picture. Take all that away—and there you have it.

How do you clean a window? You—it gets to a point where you can’t see out the window—how do you clean a window? Whatever is making that window dirty, you take that away; you wash it away—and all of a sudden you can see.

And that’s how it is. So, the “right thing, wrong thing”—give yourself a break; you know, give yourself a break. Do that, please. Take it easy. One step at a time: life, one day at a time.

Tackle life exactly as it comes to you—meaning “one day at a time.” Keep things simple. Keep things fluid. Be that tree that knows how to sway in the wind and not break in the wind—and you will have a great time, believe me.

“My question is, ‘How do you feel about lifting the lockdown regulations now or later?’” Well, I hope it happens. And it would be nice for it to happen, but it should happen when it is safe for it to happen.

Because there’s a—look, you know, what I want? Yeah, I want it to be lifted right now. But that is not a wise thing. If, because of my stupidity—if I perpetuate this and end up giving it to people who had nothing to do with it, who may be a little bit older than me, who would certainly have a terrible time of it if they got it, why should I do that?

I mean, yeah, you know, taken for granted, there are problems with the lockdown—whatever. But my actions are not limited to just myself; my actions can affect other people too.

You know, this—I realized this when I was going to go to Argentina—and then after Argentina, I was supposed to go to Uruguay. So, I’ve already flown for almost seven hours, forty minutes from Spain to Brazil and I am supposed to go to Argentina. And this, you know, the lockdown happens.

So, naturally, the idea comes, “Well, let’s just go to Uruguay. At least we will get something done there”—that Uruguay wasn’t going into lockdown. But then I thought about it. And it’s like, “Wow, you know, I could call all these people in a hall and get them all sick? I’m not going to do that.”

So, if my actions have—you know, me, I can be responsible for me. But how can I be responsible for other people? And how can I give them something because of my stupidity?

And so that, to me, is the main issue here. And that it’s not—it’s not that lockdown is nice; it’s not nice. It’s not that it’s wonderful; it’s not wonderful. And, you know, as more and more days click on, it does get under your nail—understood. But at the same time, you have to look at the entire picture.

I don’t know; you know, I fly a lot—and you’re forced to take a look at the entire picture. You know, here we are—you’re flying across the Atlantic, but you’re looking at St. John’s weather; you know, you’re looking at Ireland’s weather; you’re looking at—and it depends where you’re going, of course.

But you’re looking at all these places—and it’s like, “Okay,” but you know, a lot of times I’ll fly into Spain—and I’m looking at the weather, you know, across those, Santa Maria and Portugal. And it’s like, you know, why we are doing that—it’s just the whole picture. So, “In case there was a problem, where do we go?”

So this, it’s an intelligent decision. And that’s what it needs to be, it really, really needs to be. (Yeah, I mean, we’d like to all get out of here, but....)

And this is a very long one—“I just finished listening to Lockdown 33 and felt disturbed”—this is about Krishna and Mahabharat. And he is saying, you know, (and rightfully), he’s saying that “Terrible things were done to a lot of the leaders like Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X—towards the end of his life he started talking about peace....

“And I remember a march in Alabama where hundreds of African-Americans were beaten and some trampled by horses. And,” (yeah), “they walked and talked of peace as did Gandhi, Yudhishthira and Vidura in Mahabharat, all trying to help guide the blind king, Dhritrashtra and his son Duryodhan from destruction.

“My African-American heroes were murdered in society, of sufficient numbers that would have stopped the violence by coming together in peace. We, as a society, haven’t stood in agreement for peace. We have stood for greed and greed destroys dharma.

“Krishna begged the blind king and his foolish son to give the Pandavas back what was taken through deception, so as to avoid war. They were never listened to, Krishna, ‘the black one’—it never happened because destruction had come, the invitation of their own actions.” But he—so he is talking about the story and relating it to the injustices.

And, you know, you can take Mahabharat many different ways. It’s a huge epic. But remember one thing of how, why Krishna, (who is Vishnu, and in the Hindu religion, the “boss-man” of the whole world across), why, why does he incarnate and come to earth?

Because the earth takes the form of a cow—and that’s why, folks, you know, “holy cow,” that’s where it comes from. And so the Indians or the Hindus believe the cow is sacred.

Because she takes the form of a cow and goes to Vishnu and says, “Help me. I am—my udders have been milked so hard that they no longer give milk; they are bleeding. I am frail; I’m not given the food that I need and people are abusing me.”

And so the symbology here is really that, injustice is being done to this earth—that greed is taking over at a huge pace. And Vishnu says, “Okay, I will come to put matters right. The injustice will be taken out.”

And yes, these incredible injustices have been done on the face of this earth. And so far we understand that the biggest, biggest transformation we can bring about is to get rid of this weird thing that people have in their heads when they look at somebody, that they look at the color, that they look at the height, that they look at the shape, that they look at all these things and judge people by that.

They need to judge people by who they are as a human being—that in you runs the red blood; in me runs the red blood. I am not any different.

You know, there’s a documentary I watched—and this lady, she had been brought up in a household where they absolutely hated, you know, everybody who wasn’t of their type. And she ended up in prison. And when she ended up in prison, it was only these two ladies who were willing to help her. Of course, they happened to be those that she had been raised to hate.

But she slowly started working with them and realizing that there was no hate to be had. And she—and they were the only ones that would, that befriended her. And it’s, to me that was like, “Yes!” You know, “Yes, you understood; you saw; you broke through.”

That’s what has to happen; that breakthrough needs to happen, so we can collectively all live in a harmonious, progressive, productive, full of peace, society, and go forward. We need to go forward.

We have a huge agenda. There has been years and years of disrespect, neglect of cultures, of people on the face of this earth, of the nature on the face of this earth. And there’s so much homework to be done to put it back together the right way.

There are a whole bunch of people who are just racing off: “More, more, more, more, more,” but they don’t know “more of what.” They keep inventing new things; they keep on bringing new things—but they’re doing nothing—no technology is being utilized properly to bring people together.

When people are brought together, what is brought together sometimes is the worst form of those people, not the best. And we need to have stuff that brings the best of us together to move forward, to move progressively. And, you know, that is what is needed.

So, anyways, I mean, I’m not a politician by any stretch of the imagination, so I’m not even going to get into that. There are quite a few more questions....

But don’t forget why Vishnu came to the earth in the first place was to make that “right,” you know, truly right—the wrong that had been done to earth, to put it right; this is why Vishnu had come.

So, anyways, be safe; be well. And I’ll talk to you later.

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

Prem Rawat:

Hello, everyone; I hope you’re all well. Another Sunday today—and I’m going to be reading some questions and trying to answer them.

I hope that, you know, as things progress, (definitely in the United States, it’s a little bit different) but I hope everything, at the end of the day, works out.

One other thing that I’d like to just talk a little bit about, one of the questions yesterday, I believe—and it was, you know, “Do you want to see a change in this world?” And then I was thinking about that.

And somebody had asked me that same question before; I believe it was in South Africa. And my answer was, “Yeah, I want to change me.” And so I would like to reiterate that. Yeah, I have a list, you know, but really, the only thing I can really change is me—as is, for you, you. You can change yourself.

And that’s what’s going to make the difference. Because it’s very easy to get caught up in that question, you know, “What would you like to see different?” It’s like, “Well, yeah, I’d like to see this; I’d like to see this; I’d like to see this.” And then, you know, that whole conversation.

Because, and see, look, I’ve been involved in answering people’s questions and these kinds of questions when I was nine years old. And so that’s a really long time.

And, been through it—and then a lot of people will put those questions forward, you know, “Well, but do you really think world peace is possible; do you want world peace to happen; do you think these things will work,” so on and so forth.

And all throughout that period, one thing that I have seen is that we don’t take the responsibility for ourselves; we don’t take it upon ourselves that “I have to change.” It’s somehow, in the whole equation, in the whole chain of things, people are missing—one person, each person who’s asking that question is missing.

So, how is the chain ever going to be—if that person, you know...? It’s like a Three Stooges joke, you know; it’s like, “Say, oh, how many of us are here? Well, there are only two of us and one is missing.” And there’s all three of them there, but and one goes, “One, two”—and never counts himself.

It’s as comical as that. You know, we’re counting everybody else; we’re really hoping that everybody else is going to change—but not us: “We don’t need to change.”

And, you know, one person—I was watching a little bit of the news and he was saying that, you know, “We have to stop this; we have to stop this lockdown because our economy is going to be destroyed.”

Well, the thing is, (well, I don’t know if I should get into this, but), because I think it’s a very, very strong question. And the point isn’t economy; the point is, “You need food; you have some needs. And those needs can be met. The world will have to pool together.”

And definitely, what the American lifestyle is and the country I was born in are completely different. What a person in America would spend for food on one day, just one day—and I’m not talking about big hotels or big restaurants or big this or that—just very simple, you know, all you can eat for five dollars. Well, somebody in India can eat for a whole week for that.

There are a lot of imbalances in this world. And, you know, again, the main issue really is, not economy, but life. Life is more important than the economy.

We have existed on the face of this earth without, quote-unquote, “modern economy” for hundreds of thousands of years. But we knew, at that point, what was important; we needed to live; we needed to sustain ourselves. Have those things completely changed? I don’t think so. Those elements are still there.

Especially in the United States—and I think it’s true for any country, the resilience of people is there to re-create, rebuild that country to something that is absolutely amazing. I have seen that. I mean, look at Japan. Japan, after World War II, was basically destroyed. But they had the resilience to rebuild that country to what it is today.

We have the resilience. We, we, if we came together—not fractioned—but if we came together, we can make anything happen that we want. I believe that; I have seen that.

But taking these very small focuses—of where you’re not looking at the entire picture; you’re just looking at one little picture—those are the things that have really made disharmonies in societies over thousands of years.

Oh, and you can look at the history, you know—it’s there; it’s telling you. If you don’t know how to read the history, maybe somebody can read it to you, but that’s, it’s all historic—anyways, that’s a lot of, you know, babbling. But let me get to these questions.

Somebody asks—Jose—he says he’s seventy-four years old. And what is the purpose of his life; “Do I have a goal to meet? Many times the thought comes to me if my life has had any meaning. Can you help me and give me some advice?”

Your life always has had meaning. Whether you concurred with it, whether you read it, whether you saw it, whether you felt it or not, that’s an entirely different question—but your life has always had a meaning.

You write here that you have “the gift of writing.” Write! If you have a gift of writing, write! Write about what? Whatever you feel like. Absolutely, whatever you feel like.

Next question, you’re seventy-four years old—are you too old to write? Absolutely not. Write whatever you want to write. Another person expressing themselves can be a beautiful thing.

And so, “What is the purpose of your life,” you asking that question—and then you asked the second part of that question which is very interesting, “Do I have a goal to meet?” Not from my side. The world will tell you you have a goal, “Have you achieved this; have you achieved this; have you achieved this?”

You know, there is this Egyptian, whole thing of, when you die, what happens? And so you go through this whole journey—and in this journey, you have to, you know, be able to get through many, many, many obstacles. And finally, having gone through all those obstacles, you arrive at this gate where there is a guard—and that guard asks you a question before they can let you in.

And it’s like, “Have you found peace? And if you’ve found peace, did you help others find peace?” And if you say “yes” to both those questions, then you can come in; otherwise, you can’t come in.

So, do you have a goal to meet? Not from my end. But do you have a goal? And is that goal your goal, or is that goal a goal that the world has put inside your head, that “That’s your goal”? Somebody making up a list?

Maybe your goal in life is as simple as finding the peace in yourself. Maybe the goal in your life is as simple as enjoying the true meaning of being alive. And I think it’s worth thinking about.

“I still have doubts,” this is another question, Nadir—“I still have doubts about the meaning of knowing myself, about how that includes some aspects of my personality or to get in contact with that peace and love inside of me.”

No, knowing yourself is not about knowing your personality; it’s not knowing all those things. It really is about knowing the self, the true self that you really, really are.

Too many times, you know, there is—it’s like the cage. There’s a cage and inside the cage is the bird. Without the bird, that cage has no meaning. That cage will go into storage; that cage has no purpose. But with that bird inside, that will definitely give that cage everything that cage is supposed to be.

This, on the outside, is the cage. That life inside of you is the bird. When that bird flies away, this cage has no longer any meaning and it’s put in storage, (which is like, you know, buried or, you know, burnt or whatever it may be).

So, your value is that bird. The question is, do you know anything about that bird? Have you felt that bird? Have you experienced that bird? Have you understood that bird? Or has it—your whole lifelong attempt, has it only been about the cage?

Because if it is only about the cage, then you missed the point. The point isn’t the cage; the point is the bird in the cage. That’s what you should be attracted to. If you’re attracted to the cage—and not the bird inside the cage, you don’t get it; you don’t get the relationship of the cage and the bird.

The cage is there so the bird can be in that cage—I know it’s a terrible example, in that sense. But I think it gets to that point of that relationship of—you know, and the other way I put it is, you get a little diamond ring—and it comes in a little box.

Well, so far that diamond ring is in that box, that box is just as important as the diamond ring. Because if you lose the box, you will be just as stunned like, “Oh my God; where is that box; where is that box?”—so far that ring is in that box.

Once that ring has been taken out of that box, that box is only worth whatever it is worth, one dollar or two dollars, five dollars or whatever it is. The value is of the ring. And that value of the ring also then passes onto that box, so far that ring is in that box. Once that ring is taken away, that box means nothing.

Same thing. So, it’s not about your personalities; it’s not about your idiosyncrasies; it’s not about the way you look at things—but it is about that bird, knowing that bird, understanding that bird, feeling that bird.

That’s what I talk about: “How do you know that there is a bird?” Well, so far this breath comes into you, there is a bird in you. And if the breath doesn’t come into you, it’s, there’s nothing there.

So, to me, it’s really a question of being aware of what really is happening. We only see what is happening out there: “This is what’s happening”—because this is what we see.

So it’s like, you see a huge photograph—and it’s, you know, a hundred people. Well, you know, but there is another person there. And that person is the photographer who’s shooting that picture—but he’s not in that picture. But he’s shooting that picture.

And it’s the same thing. That there is something else going on. The life, your existence on the face of this earth isn’t about all this; it isn’t about a rocket going to the moon. It isn’t about a space station. It isn’t about all the accomplishments that we technologically have been able to achieve.

There’s something else going on. There’s something else going on that perhaps we did not create—but it’s here. And do we accept it? Do we understand it?

I enjoy the ocean. I like the ocean; I like looking at the ocean. Did I create the ocean? No, I didn’t create the ocean. I like the beach. Do I like the beach—yes, I like the beach; I like to be on the beach. Did I create the beach? No, I did not create the beach.

I like mango quite a bit. A sweet mango is wonderful. Did I create that mango—no, I did not create that mango. Did I create the mango tree—I did not create the mango tree.

I know that they are there. I like them; I enjoy them and I want to be in touch with them, even though I had nothing.... It’s not like, “Oh, I can’t go to the beach; I didn’t create that beach.” No, I’ll enjoy that beach, absolutely.

Same thing—there’s something to be understood about you, about your existence, about your life. Not what happens in your life. What happens in your life is up to you; you can change things around; you can move things around.

You know, if somebody finds themselves, they’re doing something they don’t like, they can stop doing that. Something has changed. Maybe you like chilies and one day you decide you don’t want to eat chilies anymore. Fine, you have changed that.

So there are things that happen in your life because you’re alive—and then there is the issue of life itself—and I’m talking about the issue of existence itself, not what happens in the existence.

So, I hope—I mean, I don’t know, but I hope that helps, (umm-hmm). Sometimes it does.

Here is a good one; this is from Cecile. It says, “Please can you tell us what it means to be in love with someone?” And this gets very interesting—“I am in love and I suffer from that—because the other person is not in love as much as me. He loves me, but is not ready in any way.” (For what?)

“I’m trying to love without expectations”—absolutely not. You are not—you say you are—but you’re not. “But every time I send a message and there is no reply, I get in that suffering again.” There you go; you are expecting an answer. You’re expecting that person to respond to you.

So, you know, please forgive me, but—I think that’s hilarious to get.... Because, right, if you would have read your own question, you would have seen that you are expecting something from this person. You’re comparing this person, “I love this person more than he loves me. I am expecting him—I send him a message and I’m expecting an answer and he doesn’t send me an answer and I start suffering.”

Let me tell you, how do you get a bird to come and sit on your hand? A lot of people would think the way to do that is to go grab a bird and get it to sit on your hand, you know, nail its claws, its feet to your hand. That’s not the way to get a bird to sit on your hand.

Be still—be very, very still. Don’t for a minute think it’ll work. Just so, be still. Don’t assume it’s going to work; be still. Put some food there. And be very still.

And maybe when the bird feels not threatened by you—that’s the key, “not threatened by you,” because so far the bird feels threatened by you, it will maintain its distance. But when the bird feels not threatened by you, that bird will come and sit on your hands. When the bird comes and sits on your hands, don’t flinch. Because if you do, the bird will fly away. Be still; be very, very still.

That’s how you love. Be still. Not get wrapped up in your imagination, not get wrapped up in your expectations.

Love because you enjoy loving, not to make yourself suffer. That’s not love; that’s induced suffering. You don’t want induced suffering; you want love. That’s how you love.

You love because you want to love. Whether the other person responds that same way or not, it has nothing to do with it. You love—and not to hurt them, not to hurt yourself.

Love is a wonderful thing. Love is, again, one of those things that you have to experience; you have to feel—and not because of your expectations, not because of the grand printer that keeps printing pictures, seeing, “Oh, yes, I can imagine myself with this person. And we’re holding hands and we’re doing this and we’re doing that.”

Hey, it has—love has nothing to do with that. Love is. And you have to understand that love just is. It isn’t something you create; it isn’t something you shape; it isn’t something you blend; it isn’t something you beat. Love is.

Find that love—and then that other person will be attracted to you—because they don’t feel threatened by you. They feel loved by you, because you’re loving them—not loving them into a particular position, not loving them into a particular slot in a particular way.

So, I hope that helps. Thank you.

Well, that was a short time but anyways, that’s how long we have. We have more questions, obviously—so we’ll continue with those. Until then, be safe; be well. Most importantly, be—and enjoy yourself. Thank you.

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

Prem Rawat:

Hello, everyone; I hope you’re all well. Sleeping well, I hope, and resting well, taking care of yourselves, being safe, being healthy. And then, of course, health isn’t just about your muscles being good or your, you know, lungs being good or heart or kidney or liver or whatever—but there is this big thing that sits right on top and that needs to be well too.

It influences your whole body—and when it becomes scared, confused, (or it’s not, you know, in top shape), it can stress your whole body out. And a lot of people have been expressing that—not a lot; I mean, a very small amount—but comparatively to all the expressions that have been coming in, where people have been making just, some comments about how much they are enjoying this....

And I certainly hope you’re enjoying it—and that it’s bringing you some clarity to go on in your life day to day, to see some clarity. Because that’s what’s important in life.

In life, you know, we think we are an arbitrator between our existence and all of this whole world—“And so we have to negotiate this and we have to negotiate this and we have to negotiate this.”

But you really have to see the world from the eyes of the world. It’s not really interested in you. It’s interested in itself going on, perpetuating.... You’re just one step in this huge ladder—and you will just get stepped on, and that’s about it. And, you know, like so many before you, you will be forgotten too.

But when you look at it from your eyes, it’s a little different story. You want this to be a meaningful time. You want this to be a time in which you prosper, not only externally but internally—that you are happy, that you are fulfilled.

And, you know, again, happiness isn’t a bunch of little check-boxes—and at the bottom of it, says, “Yeah, if you marked, you know, more than five of those, you’re happy—by the way.” That’s not happiness.

Success is one thing—and feeling success is another thing. There are a lot of people who have reached the very apex of what one would consider “success,” but do they feel successful? People tell them that they are successful but do they feel, from inside—do they feel successful?

There are a lot of people, you know, who have finally got to a point where they have somebody that they love and everything else—but they just cannot make it work; they cannot make their marriage work; they cannot make it happen.

Because they are looking at it from the wrong set of eyes; they’re not looking at it from the eyes of that simplicity, that “here is another human being.” And all they’re looking at is their expectations of that human being, but they’re not looking at that human being.

So many questions that have come directly relate to that. People know what they want of themselves—but they do not know who they are, as they are. How they should be, they know. How they are, they don’t know. And that’s a big discrepancy. And so, how do we resolve this? How do we get rid of this?

So, you know, I have to begin from scratch—and this is what I say: “Relax. Take it easy. Understand one thing. Don’t be in this, you know, ‘rattling of the window’ mode of things. Relax; you have everything you need.

“Inside of you, there is an ocean of answers. Do you need questions for them? Not necessarily. Answers will do fine. Inside of you, you have a huge ocean of serenity. You have understanding; you have kindness; you have forgiveness; you have the power to go forward.

“So, relax! You’ve got everything, everything that you need to truly be successful, to truly be fulfilled, to truly be in peace, to truly be happy in this world as long as you are alive. So, take a deep breath—clear your head. Understand—everything you need, you have.

“All you have to do is feel it, recognize it—not believe it, but actually know it. You have that. You have felt that before in your life. Maybe it was for a fleeting moment—but that’s enough. That’s enough to say, ‘Yes, there is something there. Yes, there is something very powerful there.’”

Now, have I ever worked on inviting those things, evoking, (not provoking), evoking those things in my life? Anger is provoked. Uncertainty is provoked. Doubt is provoked. Clarity is evoked. Big difference between the two.

It’s not something you can do with force that will trigger this; it has to be in the very simple way that really comes from understanding—and that really comes from thirst, thirst for clarity in your life, thirst for understanding in your life, thirst for peace in your life.

You know, everybody wants to be a better person. But I will ask a question, “Why, why do you want to be better? For other people—or for you?” For other people or for you? Now, you have to answer that properly—and more dishonestly you answer that, the worse the whole thing is going to get.

You have to be honest. If it is—look, you know, again, just relax. Understand one thing. It is not about getting lost; it’s about getting found. So how many times should you get lost? It doesn’t matter; so far you get found, so far you come back to your track, good. If you don’t come back to the track and you keep getting lost, that’s the worst thing you can possibly do.

So, why do you want clarity in your life; why do you want understanding in your life; why do you want these things in your life? Because of you? Because you feel thirst in you for these things? Or do you feel your indoctrination kicking in? And how you have to deal with this world—“You have to do this; you have to do this; you have to do this....”

It’s just like, you know, so many times I stay at hotels. And so many times you come and the guy opens your door—and he says, “Good morning; welcome,” and you smile at him. Now, the amount of interaction you’re going to have with him is maybe, (if you’re lucky), ten seconds, five seconds, something like that, and you just say “Good morning” and you walk through.

Why are you doing it? Do you do that to somebody you love? In the morning when you wake up and you see your wife or you see your husband or you see your child, do you say “Good morning” to them? “How are you? Welcome?” No. It’s just like, “You’re this. You’re that.” Because all this is sitting heavily on your head.

Remember my example of the young man who had, you know, gotten all his education; he was walking back home and he was going to get a job and everything—and he went up to the old man and he said, “Do you know, I’m going to start life; I’m going to be doing all these things. Tell me, what is it like; what should I do?”

And the old man took that load and put it down—stood up straight. Then took the load back on his shoulders again, on his neck again and bent over and kept walking.

So, and here is a question for you. “All those things you do in your life, do you do it with a burden of all those things that are on top of your head, all those? That burden you begin with, early in the morning?”

You know the burden I’m talking about: “Oh my God, I’ve got to do this. Oh my God, I’ve got to do this—and I’ve got to do this and I’ve got to do this and I’ve got to do this and I’ve got to do this.” And then, “I’ve got to do this too. And I’ve got to do this too, and this too and this too and this too. And I forgot about this and I’ve got to remember this and ah-dah-dah....”

So, you begin your day with a horrendous, horrendous deficit of clarity, with a horrendous deficit of understanding, of a horrendous deficit of just, lightness, just lightness, you know, when that huge weight is taken off and there is a lightness.

So, you’re beginning your day; you’re beginning everything—and then you go on all day long with that weight. And it pushes on you. It pushes on you and your vision, which should be like this, starts to get narrower and narrower and narrower and narrower—and why, because of fear. That’s what fear does.

So now you’re afraid of everything; you’re afraid of your future. You are actually afraid of your future, even though the future hasn’t come yet—because when the future comes, it comes as today. You have no idea what’s going on in today. “Now” means nothing to you. Yesterday? A bunch of memories.

And if this is the condition you are in, (already starting with a huge deficit, under pressure), then I am sure that those memories that I’m talking about are not pleasant.

So, you’ve got a nice pickle going on—no idea about today, bad memories of yesterday—and then, everything is banking on tomorrow—and tomorrow is never coming. So, this is wonderful. This is like, the perfect little setup. Everything is banking on tomorrow and tomorrow is never coming; today is all you get. Today is how it’s going to come.

Today, you have no idea what this is all about, what “now” is all about. And you’ve got some nasty little memories tucked away called, you know, “yesterday.” “This happened; this happened; this happened; this happened” and it can’t be good.

So, the only way you can get out of this is, shake it, shake it off! This is what I tell people; I say, “Just shake it off!” (It works, believe me; it works.) Just shake it off. Whatever the situation is, whatever this fear you’ve got, whatever this may—it may be very real. It may be all those things.

But you as a human being, you have to go on, regardless of what happens. And the only way you will be able to go on—is if you shake it off, start fresh, just like today did. Everything went dark, stayed dark, stayed dark—we call it “night.” Then in the dawn, a beautiful light came—and slowly that light became brighter and brighter and brighter.

And it began in such a humble way spreading across the horizon. And slowly, as that light came and became brighter and brighter and brighter, the whole world began to stir around that light. The birds started to chirp.

And then finally, the sun, the bringer of that light broke the line of the horizon and rose—and filled the world around you with the most magnificent light. And now you could see, and now you could feel the warmth of that sun.

There is a sun waiting for you to acknowledge it, for you to understand it, for you to welcome it in your life, so it can bring you that warmth, so that it can bring you that light, that beauty—so you can see; you can see that those obstacles that you’re so afraid of are not that big as you had made them out to be.

That there is a life, and this life can go on. That happiness, your heart will still desire it, regardless of your circumstances on the outside.

And people get just fast and furious with it, you know, it’s like, “Oh my God, this is terrible; this is terrible in my life; this is terrible in my life; this is terrible in my life.”

There are a lot of people, you know, it’s like, “My family—I don’t get along with my family.” Well, welcome to the world of family. A lot of people—you would not be the first one that doesn’t get along.

But you can make amends—and you can get along with your family. That’s what’s really nice about a family—nobody has to be your enemy. You can; you can talk to them; you can make amends. They can tell you what they don’t like; you can tell them what you don’t like; you can communicate.

You know, then there is this like, “Oh, my family is falling apart.” The husband needs to be understood and so does the wife. The husband comes; he’s been banging his head against the table all day long. It is not easy for him.

Nobody who has their job—I mean, okay, there are some people who love their job, fine. But they are an extreme minority, not majority.

So, a lot of people are there—there they are; they’re in an office situation or whatever. They’re working, working, working, working, working; they get a short break, a lunch break—and working, working, working, working; they come home—and here is the perfect storm.

So, you think this guy’s job is hard? You think it’s easy to stay home? It’s not like that the wife is staying home.... (Or, and sometimes it’s the husband), and the situation is crossed where the wife works and the husband stays home.

But he has to clean. He has to cook; he has to clean the laundry; he has to clean the house; he has to vacuum the house.... There is a lot to be done; the bills come; this happens; that happens. You think it’s easy? To make a household livable? It is an extremely difficult task. And it takes a lot.

So you’ve got two people—so in that first example, the husband comes home; the wife’s been brewing on this all day long, “Wait till he comes home. I’m going to let him have a piece of my mind”—or the other way around. Unfair. Unfair.

Both of you, both of you need a break. Both of you need to chill out. Both of you need to sit down, not talk about your problems, but talk about each other. “How was your day?” “Oh, it wasn’t so good. Glad to be home though.”

That’s exactly what you have to work on. The real—home isn’t a physical place. So, you know, when somebody says, “Okay, stay home and lockdown,” home isn’t a physical place; home is a place inside of you. That’s your true home.

This is your true home; this is the one you take when you go traveling. And when you can be here, when you can be comfortable with yourself, then, yeah, then you’re at home. Because there are people who are in that physical place but they don’t feel like they’re home. They don’t feel like, good about being there.

So, this is something to think about, anyways. And the reason why I’m saying these things is, in a way, getting ready for the PEP. So I already mentioned what PEP is, how many people have already taken it.

Now, here is what the whole thing is about. It’s really, really simple. When I look at the PEP, what astonishes me every time is how simple it is. Most trainings that I have gone to, most trainings that I have conducted have been very complex and very complicated.

One of the things about PEP is it is not complicated; it is very, very simple. It is the message, my message that I give. The only thing is, instead of just listening and maybe passing it through, you know, letting it come through one ear and passing it through the other, you have to pay attention.

Because then you write down what you got out of it—not your questions, but what you got out of it. And that paying the attention to that message makes all the difference in the world.

So, is it for everybody? No, you have to want to do this PEP Education, Peace Education Program. If you don’t want to, that’s fine. If you want to, that’s fine. But it is a serious thing. It’s not like.... And the reason why I say it’s serious is because you can get so much out of it. Everybody has been getting so much out of it and I know you can get so much out of it.

There have been people who have actually been released from the prison whilst they were in the middle of the Peace Education Program; they have approached the warden and said, “Can I stay an extra few days so I can finish the Peace Education Program?” And it wasn’t just one instance; it was many instances.

I mean, you have got the guerrillas from Colombia, to, you know, the Sri Lankan Tigers; everybody going, “If I knew this before, I would not be in the pickle that I am in today.”

Very powerful program—but who makes it powerful? You make it powerful; your desire, your want is what’s going to make it powerful. And it’s very simple; you just listen—and then after that, whatever you have listened, you reflect on it. You will send that reflection to me—and I will, somebody will collate that, all those reflections and then I will go through a few.

And by sharing that, we are taking care of what usually.... In an environment of five, ten people, they would share what they got—but we will share it with many, many, many thousands more.

So, it’s perfectly okay if you want to stand on the side and just watch what happens—or if you are willing to take a chance, take a chance and try the Peace Education Program.

It’s fun. You know, and look, this is all about fun. Why should you be fulfilled in this life—so you can have fun. Why do you need clarity—so you can have fun. Why should you be away from sadness, so you can have fun.

We want—all of us, we want to have fun. And you know, trying to have fun in the middle of this coronavirus thing, it’s not easy—but is it possible? And the answer to that is “Yes.” Yes, it is possible. So, thank you very much, and I am looking forward to, soon, do the PEP with you.

Thank you; take care of yourself. Be safe; be well. And most importantly, be.

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Prem Rawat:

Hello, everyone. I hope you’re all doing well. I’d like to tell you a story today, and maybe some of the things that are happening in the world may be reflected in this story.

So, obviously, this story is from India and so, it wasn’t uncommon for a teacher who would lecture whoever wanted to hear him. And his follower, his student, they would go from village to village, from city to city and set up a place where they would, yeah, at least, the teacher would talk about what he wanted to talk about and people would come and listen to him.

So, one day, as this tour was going on, as they were traveling from town to town, city to city, they came across this fairly large-sized city—and they were at the outer skirts of the city and the teacher said, “You know, I think, let’s set up shop here and you go and check out what this city is like and let me know—and then I’ll make up my mind whether I want to stay here or I want to move on.”

So, the student was delighted and he went into the city. And to his great delight, everything cost the same. So he could get dinner—and the dinner cost the same as a banana or one grape—or a kilo or, you know, twenty pounds of grapes cost the same as one grape.

You could buy a car for the same price as one grape. You could buy a house for the price of one banana or grape—and everything costs the same, exactly the same.

So, the student, he just couldn’t get back to his teacher fast enough and he said, “We have hit the motherlode. This is the place to be; this is the place to stay; this is just the most wonderful place—everything costs the same as like, one banana, one grape.” And the teacher asked, “How much is that?” He said, “Just one cent. Everything just costs one cent.”

And so the teacher was like, “Hey, let’s get out of here. That we—this is not a good sign; this is not a good place to be.” And the student said, “No, no, this is the perfect place. I have very little money and for this little money, I can live here for as long as I want; I mean, this is just incredible.”

So, the teacher said, “Look. I’ve got to—I can’t stay here; I’ve got to move on. But if you ever get into a situation that is difficult for you to get out of; you get in a pickle; you get into trouble, just remember me—and I’ll come and try to save you.”

So, the student was ecstatic; I mean, it’s like, “Great.” The teacher left; he moved onto the next town—and the student was there and he was just like, “This is the way to go.”

Well, he’d been there for about four or five days—and one Sunday morning, the town was pretty deserted and he’s walking down the street early in the morning—and as he’s walking down the street, he’s arrested. And he goes, “Why have I been arrested?” And so they started to explain to him why he had been arrested.

And they said, “Look, what happened was there was this man and he was taking his goats for grazing—and as he was taking them along the street, this balcony fell and killed one of the goats.” And so the goat keeper wanted to make sure that he got compensated for it.

So, this went to the king—and the king immediately instructed the owner of the house, whose balcony had fallen down, to give him money and make amends with him. But the owner of the house said, “Sire, it’s not my fault; I didn’t build the balcony. I paid for it; it’s my balcony, but I didn’t build the balcony. It’s obviously the fault of the guy who built the balcony.”

So, the king said, “Call him!” The mason was called—and he said, “You—either you give....” And by this time the king is getting pretty upset; he says, “Either you give this guy the money or we’re going to kill you.”

And the guy says, “But I can’t! I don’t have that kind of money. But then again, it’s not my fault that the balcony fell. It is the fault of the guy who put too much water in the cement-and-water mixture. When I was telling him to put water in there, he accidentally put too much water in.” So the king said, “Okay, call him.”

So, he was brought in and he, the guy says—the king says to him; he says, “Okay, you have to be killed.” He says, “Why do I have to be killed?”

He says, “Well, you put too much water in the mixture, which then made the balcony weak. The balcony fell on the goat and it killed the goat. And so, somehow that, you know, this person has to be taken care of. So, you—we’re going to punish you and we’re going to kill you.”

And the guy said, “Well, it’s not my fault. It is the fault of the guy who sold me too big of a goat. And from the skin of that goat, I have had the musk made,” (which is how they used to carry water—and it was made out of skin), and he said, “It was too big—and that’s what happened. So it’s not my fault.” “So, yeah, call that guy who sold you the goat.”

They called that guy who sold him the goat and he says, “Well, you know, you have to be killed.” He says, “Why do I have to be killed?” “So, well, you gave, you sold him too big of a goat, which ended up making too much water in the mixture, which made the balcony weak and the balcony fell on this guy’s goat and killed his goat, so we are, we’re making him right.”

He says, “Well, it’s not my fault. It’s the fault of your general. Because the guy, this guy had picked out the goat he wanted, which was the right size. And then all of a sudden, your general came on his horse—and all the goats just started going all over the place and I ended up picking the wrong one. So, you should go ahead and, you know, kill your general; hang him.”

So they call the general; the king called the general and said, “Well, you have to be hung.” He says, “Sire, well, but I haven’t done anything wrong.”

He says, “Yeah, you have. You were riding your horse that day and, you know, you got all the goats all confused. And this guy ended up picking the wrong goat, which made too big of a musk, which put too much water in the mixture, which made the balcony weak. The balcony fell on this guy’s goat, killed the goat, and so we’re making him right.”

So, the general looked at the king and he says, “But sire, but I’m your general. You can’t kill me.” “So what should we do?” He says, “Well, go out in the morning, on Sunday morning, and whoever you find, the first person walking down the street, kill him.” Well, it happened to be the student.

The student was brought before the king, of course, and this whole story was explained to him and then he realized what his teacher has been, had been telling him—he says, “This is not a good place.” And that’s, you know, hindsight’s twenty-twenty. So he, of course, at that point, had complete clarity. Before that, he didn’t.

So, he had remembered to remember his teacher—so he did. He said, “Please, please, please,” he prayed to him; he said, “Please help me. I am in a pickle; I am in trouble.” So, somehow, his teacher came. And his teacher looked at him—and he said, “Just follow my cue. Don’t disagree with me; just follow my cue and watch what I do.”

So, they’re getting ready; they have the whole bench ready where they’re going to hang him. The stage is all set. Everybody is there; lots of—a big crowd is there; the king is there. And they are almost ready to take the student up to hang him when the teacher, who’s there, he says, “I want to be hung. Hang me! Not, don’t hang him; hang me!” And the king hears this commotion—and he can’t believe his ears. He goes, “Are you—are you sane? I mean, you want to be hung instead of him?”

And the teacher said, “Right now, the gates to heaven are completely open. All the gates going to heaven are open. It happens to be the most auspicious time—and so if you hang me, I’ll go straight to heaven.”

The king said, “Really?” And the teacher said, “Oh, absolutely.” The king looked at the hangman and he said, “Hang me! I want to go to heaven.” And the king was hanged.

So, the point of this story is that, you know, when we live in an environment where the people are trying to take something totally out of context.... And you look at the craziness of it, where all these people, all these ideas of “How this should happen; how that should happen....”

I mean, just, the United States is number one—and inching towards a million people. I mean, outpaced just about everybody. And you wonder, “What is happening?” You wonder what’s going on.

But the most important thing is, for any changes to be brought, those changes will have to be from you—from each one of us, each one of us on the face of this earth. Many times when I talk, I talk about the value of each person. And a lot of people I know just look at me like, “What are you talking about, ‘value of each person’?”

Well, now that we have this coronavirus, you know what the value of each person is. One person can contaminate so many; one person isn’t so innocent anymore; one person isn’t so frail anymore; one person isn’t so weak anymore. One person has a lot to do.

Well, if it can be in a negative way, it can also be in a positive way—of what a person can do. That, one person bringing out their clarity, one person bringing out their understanding, one person wanting to be in peace can have a huge effect on a lot of people.

And each one of those people then wanting that, there really can be a difference. And maybe this is the time to really look at that—that, you know, “What kind of a world do we want,” to reflect on that.

And this is kind of like, you know, a lead-up to the Peace Education Program—but the Peace Education Program, it really is about you; “You can make a difference. You can, at least, make a difference in your life; you can make a difference in your existence”—which, believe you me, it’s going to make a difference in a lot of people’s life, more than you ever realize.

And it begins with you—as simple and as profound as that may sound; it begins with you. You understanding, you going forward, you taking that step in your life, you taking responsibility for your peace, for your clarity, for your appreciation of life—for you to understand your existence, you taking that—and it’s an adventure. It’s an adventure—but it’s an adventure to go within.

The least-explored space that there is, is not out there; it’s in here. We don’t really know who we are, what is our potential, what is our possibility—and it’s such a shame.

Because most of us walk around being just, you know, knocked over by all the problems and the issues, and this is all we want to deal with. I mean, it’s just, if it comes to politics, of course—politics, the talks about politics and it’s just, you pick up a newspaper in the morning and it’s like, “This is happening and that’s happening and that’s happening and that’s happening.”

And nothing good. All just, you know, “Okay, that thing took a turn for the worse; that person took a turn for the worse. That person is saying this stupid thing; that person is saying that stupid thing.” And it’s enough to just go, you know, it’s like, “Why am I reading this? You know, what has this got to do with me?”

I live in this world. I need to be informed—I agree with all that. But at the same time, do I understand how it affects me? Should it be that I don’t care—of what happens in my world? Or should I care what happens in my world—my world? But my world doesn’t begin with the newspaper; my world begins with me!

If I care what happens in my world, it has to be my world, me, understanding who I am, living my life consciously, and having this heart full of gratitude. This is what it has to be—otherwise we’re going to be in this world that we would have created, in which it’s like, “Oh, yes!”

You know, and it’s almost like that. You know, you can go all day long; you can go shopping and not have spent one cent, one dime, one dollar, one pound—and it’s all done on a credit card. So it’s like, all you have to do is just sign—and you can buy, (pretty much), whatever you want, what the credit card will approve.

We almost live in that society. We live in this kind of time. I mean, it’s like, okay, so, you know, in the old days, you started off—and you started off with ten dollars or twenty dollars in your wallet. And this is what you were going to spend and no more.

That’s—that’s sanity; that’s sane. So, you go out there—and when you run out of your ten dollars, you run out of your five dollars, you run out of your twenty dollars, you’re done. You’re done; no more spending.

Now, you have no idea what you’re spending it on. And away you “sign off, sign off, sign off”—and then what happens when those bills arrive? They give you a heartache; they give you a headache; they give you an “everything-ache.”

Why? Because you did not, in that one moment—you just said, “Okay, I think I’ll cover it somehow.” And you just “sign it away, sign it away, sign it away, sign it away.”

So, the craziness goes on. You know, and here, we are being given an opportunity to think—if nothing else, to think, think deeply, think with a clear head, think without the pressure, think without all those obligations, just think very clearly: “How do you want to be?”

Yes, there are economic issues. Yes, “What is going to happen to this?” Yes, “What is going to happen to that?” We already saw what happened—you know, the government releases a whole bunch of funds—and who does it end up with? All those people who don’t need it. And all those people who need it? Financial institutions already taking all that, “No, you don’t get it.”

But excuse me, is this what it’s all about? Is the bottom line not people anymore? What happened? What happened? It is human beings who started that system. And all of a sudden, the system has gone beyond the realm of human beings—and it says “Human beings don’t mean anything to me anymore?” How can that be?

This is truly a—every single evidence here, every single finger is pointing that human beings have lost themselves, that they have lost what that humanity means. Because if that humanity was there, nobody should have to wonder....

And well, just hunker down—and somehow, the food—there’s just plenty of it, plenty of it. And there are people who are willing to deliver it, that the food will be delivered.

There are billions and billions and billions earmarked to blow people off planet Earth—well, can some of that money be spent to save the people on this planet Earth, not looking at the boundaries, but looking at all of us as we are?

Things to think about. I’m not going one way or the other way with it—but some things to think about. Because what benefits, ultimately, those other people will ultimately benefit us too. When everybody is taken care of, we will be taken care of. This is how it should be: “Human beings first.” In our systems, in our institutions: “Human beings first.”

But you know, like I have said to many, many people, it’s just like, organizations recognize organizations. They work very well with organizations; they don’t work very well with people. Organizations work well with organizations.

And so, you know, when you make an organization to help people, it becomes an organization just like every other organization and people are shoved aside. When you think about billions and billions and billions and trillions of dollars that are earmarked to help people on the face of this earth, you wonder where it disappears to.

So, it’s very, very important that we at least, think, think about the world we want, think about our world starting, truly, from us.

So, be well; be safe. And most importantly, be. I’ll talk to you later. Thank you.