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Prem Rawat:

Hello, everyone. I hope that you’re all well—and taking it one step at a time, staying fluid. And basically, you know, the motto still is, “Don’t give it to anyone and don’t get it from anyone.” And if you can do that, (figure out a way), then that’s good.

So, today, what I want to talk about maybe is most appropriate, beginning with this story. But this is no ordinary story. And many of you might think this is not a story. Well, that’s fine too.

But it is the impossible story; it is an impossible thing that has happened. And what is that? That is, defying all logic, and maybe even defying the laws of physics, something has happened; something has taken place.

And that is that the infinite, the most amazing, the endless, what cannot be created and what cannot be destroyed, has come and is residing inside of the very finite thing. So, the infinite has come to reside inside the finite. Wow. If that doesn’t break every single rule, I don’t know what does.

First of all, two things occupying the same space at the same time? Absolutely, absolutely. And then, the infinite that has no limit, that has no beginning and has no end, that was never created, will never be destroyed, that was, is and will be, is residing inside that that wasn’t, is, and won’t be. That’s what’s going on; that’s the little story.

And that happened. And if you don’t believe me that it happened, then look at yourself. You’re the evidence that it happened, that it took place. And so far this breath comes into you, this is happening.

One day, it won’t be like this. The two will separate. Infinite will be—and finite will drop out, go back to being the elements it came from—will not be able to talk, will not be able to love, will not be able to celebrate, will not be able to laugh, will not be able to be. Everything will stop.

So, this is what you could do—you could laugh; you could smile; you could be in peace; you could live your life consciously. You could know yourself. You could have a heart full of gratitude. You could have kindness; you could love; you could forgive; you could understand.

These are the things you can do. Each one of these, incredibly noble, incredibly noble, incredibly beautiful, not only enrichens your life but whoever you touch with this. This is the possibility that has come together in this little story, where the infinite—and the impossible finite, have come together, joined forces to make you. This is what’s going on.

Now, I know you have your problems and sometimes you get buried in your problems; you have your issues; you have this; you have that; you know, you worry about things.... But please take a look at this possibility. Please take a look at what this is, the coming together of the two most impossible things, the infinite and the finite.

And while this happens, none lose their nature. The finite stays finite—and the infinite stays infinite. They don’t lose their personalities; they don’t lose who they are. They don’t lose their meaningfulness; they stay intact—but they come together and they merge.

And one possibility that definitely opens up when this happens, when this takes place—and this possibility is that you can experience that infinite. What is that experience like—and obviously, this is a very inappropriate question—but what is that experience like? (And of course it’s inappropriate but let’s ask it anyways, right?)

And, of course, I’m not the first one saying this—but it is the experience of joy; it is the experience of bliss; it is the experience that is fulfilling; it is the experience, in fact, of peace. That’s what it is about.

So, it really starts to now come down to, this impossible story has to be weaved—because this has happened, but now it has to be weaved. And it has to be weaved into something good—and that will be your story.

I’m not saying that people will remember that story—but you will. You will know that story. You know your story, up till now—whatever and however you have survived, however you have lived your life. What you worry about, what frightens you, you know those things. What wipes that smile off your face, what do you think about other people, what do you think about you, you know those things.

And how do you want the story to be woven? Do you want the story to be about joy; do you want the story to be about victory?

Or do you want the story to be about the lost war? Not the lost battle, lost war—the war against the darkness, the war against all those other things that distract me. You’re fighting a war every day against those elements that distract you from what the possibility is.

And we sit here—and we try to legitimize those things. We try to legitimize our concern, our worrying, our sorrow, our pain, all those things. And for—I don’t know for how long we have been doing it.

And, you know, people always say, “Well, let’s be practical.” Well, let’s be practical. Would you use your car as a shovel? No, a car would make a terrible shovel. A car is meant to be a car, a thing that can transport you from point A to point B. That’s what it was constructed for. That’s what it was made for.

If you try to use an airplane as a car, it would make a terrible car—it does. It’s awkward. A lot of airplanes, and you know, the tricycle configuration—ridiculously hard to taxi. And huge wings—you would be always clipping something. Visibility isn’t all that great. And the engine, very unresponsive because, you know, it has to produce thrust, and that’s the only way it’s going to go forward.

But as a plane...? A car cannot be a plane—and a plane cannot be a car. (Even though they try to, you know—these days they make these airplanes that can kind of function), but they’re awkward; they still are awkward.

So, what do you want this story to be? You have to give it some thought—“What do you want this story to be? What do you want the possibility to be? Do you want appreciation in your life? Do you want joy in your life; do you want peace in your life; do you want understanding in your life? Do you want these rich elements in your life that truly make anyone’s life a pleasure, a joy?”

Or do you want all the things that you worry about every day—not that it does anything—but of course, you sit there and worry.

Because in this physical world that you live in, your actions count. And that’s the only thing that—and not what you sit there and think. That doesn’t count.

I mean, if you’re driving a car and all of a sudden you slam into the back of somebody—and the police officer asks you, “What happened?” And you say, “Well, I thought about braking”—it doesn’t count. “You thought about braking,” that doesn’t count—“Did you brake or not?” That counts. And if you didn’t, then, of course, you’re at fault.

So the question isn’t what you’re thinking; the question is, “What are you going to do about it? What are the things that are available to you—that you know, that you can count on, that you know will work?”

You know, and when I say this—look, Socrates said it such a long time ago: “Know thyself.” It wasn’t in the context of, “Yeah, you know you may as well get to know yourself—you’re trying to know everybody else.”

No, it was in the context of, “It’s very, very important that you know yourself. That in fact, that’s a big piece of the puzzle and if you don’t know yourself, you’re missing the picture.”

So, today, the story we have weaved, in our story, we know everybody else; we know this person; we know that person—but when it comes to us, we don’t know. We don’t know. We don’t know who we are. We don’t know what this possibility is.

And looking at it from—it has always helped me—looking at it from the perspective of, “Wow, there’s the infinite inside of me. And here is the finite. And I have the possibility that I can relate to that infinite inside of me.”

Now, “infinite” is a huge word. And so what is infinite? Well, “Felt—but not defined. Something I can feel. And something that brings me a happiness that’s so different than happiness that I experience in this world.”

Of course, you know, I’m happy to see my puppies. I’m happy to see my children; I am happy to see my grandchildren; I’m happy to see my family. I have, you know—but there’s another happiness, another kind of happiness—knowing me, knowing and feeling that infinite that is inside of me.

That’s the possibility. And whatever story I have weaved up till this point in my life—and sometimes I feel like my life has just gone by like in a flash. I mean, I remember very clearly, (and uh-huh)—I am one of those people who has been photographed very well over the period of years, and so I’ve got a lot of pictures of me, and throughout all the periods of my life.

And I—there’s one picture of me where I’m a little baby and I remember that picture being taken. And, you know, here I am. And what is this all about?

And I’m so grateful that I have that contact, to be able to reach in and experience that infinite. That was the big game-changer for me—to understand the beauty of everything, “That, wow, part of all that that is so wonderful, that is so incredible has also touched me.”

And that’s what counts. You know, it’s not like I don’t have problems; it’s not like nasty things don’t happen to me; of course they do. But the good things are always happening too.

And which one do I want to latch onto in my life? This is a decision I have to make every single day. “What do I want to latch onto; what is important to me?” And that’s what this story is all about—and it has to be. And that’s what your story should be. Not the other one.

Because all those things that you think count in your story—you know, you have accomplished this and you have accomplished this and you have accomplished this—it doesn’t, it doesn’t count. It doesn’t count.

But what counts is that joy that you carry in your heart, that appreciation that you carry in your heart, that clarity that you carry in your heart, that peace that you carry with you wherever you go. That’s what counts; that’s what’s important.

You know, I mean, looking at this thing.... So, today, this morning, I was just gathering some numbers. The world has—the coronavirus cases are well in the 3 million, ninety-nine thousand three hundred and ninety-five. The deaths around the world, two hundred and thirteen thousand, six hundred and twenty-one—and they’re going up all the time.

“People recovered” is nearing almost a million—nine hundred and forty-three thousand, nine hundred and forty recovered. The U.S.A. alone is over a million people—yeah, a million, one million, sixteen thousand six hundred and ninety-two total cases. Total deaths, 57,132. And totally recovered, U.S.A., 39,834—of course, these figures are changing.

But then there was the Spanish flu. I looked up Wikipedia and—“The Spanish flu, also known as the 1918 flu pandemic”—this was a very deadly virus; it killed a lot of people. So, estimated that it killed “anywhere from 17 to 50 million” people, “and . . . as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in human history.”

And India was hit very, very hard with it—in fact, in India, it was “12-17 million people,” they figure, alone, that died. There wasn’t any wood to cremate people in India. And in fact, it was one of the things that—the whole thing was mishandled by the then, colonial rule—that gave, you know, the impetus to a lot of people to get independence.

So, you know, these things—it’s not like this hasn’t happened before; it has actually happened, but in much worse of an environment—much, much worse. I am just shocked at some of the countries who are not taking any action. And this is what happened back then.

So, again, and the main—but the main point of all of this is, “Please, stay sane; stay healthy; be well—and be.”

This is your life, your existence. You need to be in joy because that is still a possibility. That marriage, that coming together of the infinite and the finite is taking place still in your life, whatever the outside circumstances—maybe they’re not pleasant. But there is something very pleasant inside of you. Focus on that; focus on the good. This is the time to focus on the good.

So, thank you very much—and I’ll talk to you later.

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Prem Rawat:

Hello, everyone; I hope you’re all doing well. Very quickly approaching towards getting the Peace Education Program prepared, so we can go through it—and there are ten different chapters in the Peace Education Program and, of course, the first one is “Peace.”

I think I’ve talked a lot about peace, but still, the understanding—because we live in a world that has defined so many things for us. And we take those definitions and we apply it to everything.

So, what does it mean when you see somebody on the street that is not from a certain place or a certain country? So, again, there are definitions that come in; there are ideas that come in; there are concepts that kick in. And you, when you look at that person, all those things are afoot; they are playing.

So, the same thing happens when it comes to “what is peace,” what is “infinite,” what is “clarity.” Any one of these things actually triggers a whole plethora of ideas of what one is talking about.

But the peace that I’m talking about is not the peace that is created—or that is a consequence of something. (So, if two people have been fighting and all of a sudden they call it quits, you could say, “Well, they’re in peace now; they’re, ‘cease-fire.’”) That’s not the peace I’m talking about.

So then, you know, you go to a nice place; it’s wonderful, and a nice lake and the forest—and people go, and people go camping and so on and so forth, to these wonderful places.

And I know a lot of people step out and the first thing they say is, “Oh, how peaceful it is.” But that’s just absence of noise, the absence of all the noise that you heard when you were in the city. So, that’s not the peace, what I’m talking about. So, what is that peace that I’m talking about?

Well, in you, you know, obviously, you know what your turmoil looks like—it’s not fun. And you have been rattled by that turmoil at times. It has been severe.

I see it when things don’t go your way—and you are tired, or you’re, you know, something is already amiss—and then on top of that comes some kind of a bad news. And the feeling is, “Oh my God, this is too much to take, too much to handle, too much to have”—and off you go. Fair enough.

But then there is an opposite of that inside of you, something that is capable of looking at this whole world and its workings and everything else from a very disconnected way—and being able to observe it for what it is—not how it should be, but what it is.

Things happen—neither good nor bad. It’s not a detached judgment. But it is just simply far enough away to see your existence, you being in this life, you being in this world, just the way it is—neither good nor bad.

Somebody actually wrote this to me; it’s like, you know, “How come nature is so cruel? Today I saved, you know, some kind of a bug from the clutches of a spider—because of, you know, they were caught in a spider’s nest.” And I started thinking about that.

“And is it?” It is. It is. And I don’t have to sit there and pass a judgment on it. It is what it is.

Bugs eat bugs; fish eat fish; animals eat animals. It happens. Is that good? Well, why do I have to bring my hat of “good” and “bad” to every party that I go to? Why is everything divided into that “good and bad”?

Because this is how I’ve been trained: “Either the things are good—or bad”—but I have lost the ability to admire something for what it is worth—for what it is. To look at the moon and admire it for what it is. Not what it isn’t. Not what it could be. Not how it could have been—but just as it is. This is—not everybody has this ability.

To look at rain.... And we don’t like rain; most of us don’t like rain. We think that’s, you know, a real bummer; “It’s ruined your day,” and da-da-da-da, da. But just to look at the rain for what it is.

It’s a natural process; it has been happening on this planet Earth for a really long time. And thank God that it happens—and otherwise the distribution of that freshwater would not happen the way it should happen. To admire something the way it is.

Well, okay, so we have talked about, you know, fish and we’ve talked about animals and we’ve talked about spiderwebs.

But what happens when that “to just see something the way it is” comes to you? And you start to see, without judgment, a reality, a very simple reality? A reality that is about you, that, something that touches your heart, something that makes you feel fulfilled—makes you feel like, “Yes,” that gratitude is touched, the thankfulness is touched.

That no more do you flounder between the answers and the questions—but you understand the answer, even if there isn’t a question. That peace becomes, for you, a journey inside to that beautiful place where you are in that presence of the complete, of the whole, of the infinite.

That from thereon, it isn’t “more” or “less”—but all that goes away. “Right and wrong,” all that goes away—and it’s not about time and it’s not about your agendas and it’s not about your definitions and it’s not about that printer you carry here—but it is that you witness what is the true, beautiful reality.

Peace, then, is that one feeling which is not objective; it is subjective for every single person. It is what they feel. And when there is no need to want to describe it, when there is no need to say, “Hey, come here and look at this....” It is beyond that threshold—that it is. And you accept.

You accept because it’s so beautiful. You accept because it’s within you. You accept because it is you. You accept because it is a gift that you have received. And no more dualities.

So, peace is that place, not full of definitions, but full of feeling. And that’s what you have to understand about peace.

And of course, you know, this is discussed more in the Peace Education Program, but this time, it’s not about words but you’re going to have to pay attention. And that, that’s the big difference. That’s really the big difference. And all of this for appreciation, to be able to appreciate what it means that you’re alive, that you have this life.

You know, we don’t even understand what to appreciate. We think we should appreciate our dog; we should appreciate our cat; we should appreciate our donkey; we should appreciate.... (I’m not saying you shouldn’t; of course you should.)

But in life, there are some deeper things that are inside of you that you should also appreciate. So, appreciate this breath that comes into you. Appreciate this existence that you have. Appreciate every day that you’re alive.

Now, these may sound really, really simple things to you—but I tell you one thing; it’s a real challenge to do so. It is a real challenge because our training is not for that. Our training is to appreciate, “Look outside.”

From the very young age that we were babies, when the mother wanted to distract us because we were crying or something like that, a toy, something that made noise, or something—and it’s like, “Lookey-lookey, look at this! Look at this! (Forget about what you’re feeling; look at this.) Look at this. This is more important.”

Has it stopped since then? Now we’re not babies anymore, perhaps. We are adults; we do things—but, has that stopped? No, again—now it’s not the mother bringing these things to us. But now we bring these things to us: distractions—from? Appreciation of what is.

This life is. And it is the most magnificent gift that you will ever have. Every breath is priceless. Every moment, every day, every today that you receive is priceless—and its value and its importance to you, now....

And as I explained, what is that “now”—now is where your actions are going to take place, which will then have consequences for you, either good consequences or bad consequences. This is what’s going on. And if you have no appreciation for that, then you’re missing out on a whole part of your existence—that you’re just not even paying attention to it, because there is no appreciation of that.

So, appreciation, as simple as it sounds, it’s not quite like drinking a milkshake—because you have to see those things. And those things are so hidden from us—not because they are—but we have hidden them from us because we have brought in other things that we are so used to looking at.

And now it’s a question of refocusing and finding those things that we can truly appreciate in our lives, that mean something to us from within—not from a trained idea, not from a trained definition, not from a trained, you know, (again and again and again), “This is how you should be; this is how you should be....”

Not appreciation of that—but appreciation of those things that are simple, that are profound, and that are so yours that they’re amazing.

So, anyways—and then, of course, we’ll be talking about “inner strength”—and the inner strength, you know, the thing is, well, the only kind of strength we know is either the strength of thought—or muscles. And so it’s like, “Yeah, that’s, that’s what I”—and people want to be powerful. And how do they want to be powerful? Power. “Power, power, power,” and the world’s gone crazy over power.

And so people think, “If you have money, you have power. If you have big muscles, you have power. If you have a big brain, you have power.”

But what is your inner strength? Inner strength cannot be measured by muscles; it cannot be measured by thought. It cannot be measured by these things—but the inner strength is your strength of your clarity, of your understanding, of your feeling, of your joy, of you! Your strength, your true, true, true, true strength.

The strength that can take you forward, the strength and the courage that you need in your life to move forward when everything tells you, “No. No, it’s over.” You know, because the world will—will, and yeah, the world’s very well defined when it comes to that: “You have done this—it’s over.”

But it takes an incredible amount of inner strength to say, “No, I’m going forward. I’m going to move forward regardless of all this that is coming my way to stop me.”

So, these are the things that are going to be talked about. “Self-awareness,” knowing who you are, becoming aware that you are not just this bubbling pot of ideas and thoughts in your head. But there is a lot more going on; you have a heart; you have feelings; you have understandings; you have thirsts; you have your needs that need to be fulfilled. And it really comes down to knowing yourself.

Other things that are going to be talked about are “clarity, understanding, dignity, choice, hope and contentment.” And, you know, and briefly about hope—yeah, and but I’m not talking about the hope of “keep your fingers crossed,” you know, “let’s hope everything goes our way.”

That’s not hope. That’s just “wishful thinking.” That’s like, you know, you buy a lottery ticket and then you sit there and you go, “I hope that lottery ticket comes; I hope that lottery ticket comes; I hope that lottery ticket comes.” That’s not the hope that I am talking about.

The hope that I am talking about is that those basic things that you need in your life, (which, of course, you need the recognition of), to have those things fulfilled. To have the hope to go forward. When everything isn’t clear, when everything is a little bit foggy, when everything isn’t there, something to come along and say, “Continue, continue—and you will feel your way to that reality.”

So, I mean, anyways, I could talk about this more, but let’s wait for the Peace Education Program. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. And that’s coming closer and closer.

And I hope you continue to enjoy. And then, you know, of course, I’ve got to get ready for the PEP—so I just want to remind you again. And we have prepared some nice clips that’ll be shown every day, so something will be shown every day up to the point that PEP comes back and I will return with PEP.

So, it’s really a wonderful.... I, I don’t know; for me, it’s like, it’s a little bit tiring, (actually, quite a bit tiring), but it’s exciting; it’s fun to be able to talk about this, to be able to just talk to you about these beautiful things that I always go and talk about.

But in these circumstances, we can go beyond these circumstances; we can go beyond the ugliness of coronavirus; we can go beyond the ugliness of these things and come to a beautiful place, which is really within us. You know, so, your journey goes all the way and then it comes back to you. And how beautiful it is that it comes back, comes back to you.

So, take care; be well; be safe—and most importantly, be. Thank you.

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Prem Rawat:

Hello, everyone; I hope you’re all doing well. So, we already have gone through and done forty broadcasts—and I just want to take a little bit of time and try to explain to you what I’m planning on. Of course, you know, being, whatever the situation is, we have to be pretty fluid, whatever happens.

But the whole idea is this; that we’re developing the Peace Education Program. Now, at the onset of these broadcasts, I had mentioned that that would be a really great thing to do—which I still believe that would be a really wonderful thing to do.

And so we’re pulling together different materials to make this happen. And the reason for that is that it hasn’t really happened this way. And so, the way I’m planning on, (and it could change at any time, so don’t hold me to it), is basically, you will see—one day you will see the PEP.

And it’s not all day long or anything like that; it’s roughly half an hour, a little over, (it could be if my introduction gets in there)—and then there will be at least a couple of days for you to be able to write to us, the learnings that you have had. So, particularly paying attention to what the PEP would be, each one of the segments.

And then I will take all those and will select the pertinent ones—and I’m sure we’re going to get a few that are not quite, you know, the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, type of situation, but just to be able to take the ones that will help everybody go forward.

And I’ll read those—and we will discuss that, (or I’ll discuss that). And then we will go on to the next episode of the Peace Education Program. So, this is the way it will keep happening—and we may increase the time in between; we may decrease the time in between, one way or the other way.

The broadcasts have served, I think, a wonderful purpose. Also, one of the other things that I am thinking about is to do events. Now, what kind of events? Well, under these circumstances, they would be “virtual events.”

And these virtual events would take place, of course, wherever I am in the lockdown; that’s where these events will happen from. And they will be made available to you to watch. They will, of course, be longer than the ones that, the broadcasts that you have been watching.

So, this is kind of the plan that I am working with or proceeding towards. There’s also wonderful stuff out there—one of the ones is the new podcasts that have come out, called the “Life’s Essentials” podcasts. They are available through Apple Podcast or through Spotify—and they’re really good—and you may want to go and check them out.

So, in between, we are also going to have quite a few videos that we will be showing. So, all this isn’t just going to go dark by any, yeah, stretch of the imagination; there’ll be a lot of material that’ll be pushed out. I mean, believe me, one thing we do have is a lot, and a lot, a lot of material.

Then, of course, I have been doing this parallel thing, which is the Hindi broadcast—for all the Hindi-speaking people around the world. And of course, they had that question, too, “Whether you’re going to do PEP in Hindi?”

So then I found out that the PEP that we have currently, it’s mostly the ones that are in English—but then they’re translated and so on. So what I want to do is kind of, do something a little fresher for them.

We don’t have the means—I don’t have the means to create and edit all of the new PEP—but I can do whatever I can do. I do have the list of all the items that are in the PEP, so there’s “Peace, appreciation, inner strength, self-awareness, clarity, understanding, dignity, choice, hope and contentment.” These are the topics that are discussed in PEP.

So I can try to create something in Hindi—well, I’ll have to see. The Hindi ones, they are on the thirty-seventh broadcast, so a few more to go for them—and then that’ll give me enough time to then work on the Peace Education Program and get the Peace Education Program done.

Like I have said many times before, look—and this is true for everything in this universe—you’re only going to get what you put into it. You know, what you don’t put into it, you know, if—there are a lot of people who might be shy, who might be like, “I don’t know what this is.” It’s all good stuff. It’s all things to help you think, think about a whole different way of what it is to be human.

I mean, a viewpoint, a perspective being provided to you that is other than, “Do this, this, this, this, and this,” all these formulas that have existed for years and years and years and years and years and years and years and years—(and add a few more), on the face of this earth—and have really done nobody any good.

And so, you know, the calamities keep happening. You know, there were kings that—a long, long time ago, there were kings that would be really mean, who were not good, who were not generous, who were not fair to the people—and then the revolts happened and they were thrown out; they were kicked out.

So, all of this drama that you and we all are, you know—the plagues have happened before.... Plagues happen in Africa; virtually every year, these locusts come and wipe out everything and people have to go hungry.

And so many diseases, somewhere this disease is rising; somewhere that disease is rising; we’ve already been through MERS and SARS and bird flu and Ebola and all of these, you know—and so, here comes coronavirus and, you know, we’re like, “Aaaah.”

Of course, we should be very concerned—and we should take all the precautions that are necessary, but at the same time, we need to use our intelligence and experience and courage. You know, not go around spreading bad rumors, false stories—and work together for a better conclusion to this, collectively around the world. But of course, that’s too much to ask.

You know, it’s like, “No-no-no, we don’t want any help. We don’t want this; we don’t want that; we don’t....” But it would have been wonderful to see cooperation by the world leaders—and some sanity by the world leaders, looking at those leaders who have been successful and in ways, emulating them. But, you know, of course, that’s too much to ask. So, eh, because, and that can go on and on and on.

But to me, the whole idea is to just provide another perspective, a reality that deals with you. You know, instead of everything else that you can do, that deals with you. That’s what the Peace Education Program is. These are the things, how you can achieve the peace, the appreciation, the appreciation for your life, the inner strength that you have.

These are things that are not created; you don’t have to go out and try to create them. These are the things that already exist inside of you. And all you are doing is allowing them to come out, to manifest.

You know, you know of your anger—but did you know that you also have clarity inside of you, that you have appreciation inside of you—and these things can actually make your life incredibly beautiful if they’re applied in the right way. And that’s what they’re there for. Everybody is born with them.

I mean, yes, we are born with our anger; we are born with our fear; we are born with all of this stuff. But we’re also born with a tremendous amount of beauty—and that’s what peace is. That’s what appreciation is. And appreciation just takes that little bit of an eye—and says, “Look, there is other stuff you can appreciate; there’s so much more that you can appreciate.”

And then, the inner strength. The strength that you have—which will come in handy. When the world defeats you, what are you going to do? You know, and a lot of people sit there and feel devastated. But you don’t have to feel devastated. You can move; you can march; you can go forward. That’s what Peace Education is all about.

Self-awareness, being aware of who you are, what you are, what your positives are—this is so important in this life. And in everyday navigation, you need to know exactly where you are on that map—and in the map of life, being aware of yourself, which is incredibly, incredibly important.

Clarity, the power of clarity, to be able to see. Because when problems come, I can assure you, everybody, everybody, when they are inundated with the problems, everything goes foggy. It’s not clear; it goes foggy.

In that moment, you have to have something that pierces that fog, and that’s called “your clarity.” This is what you need. You know, when.... And, for instance, I say this many times. When you turn on a light in a dark room, you don’t create the objects that are in that room. You simply illuminate those objects that are in that room.

So, if you want to go from one end to the other end of the room—and maybe there are obstacles. You couldn’t see those obstacles—and when it was dark, you, maybe you were tripping on those obstacles, getting hurt.

But if you turn on the light, now you can see those obstacles—and how does that help you? Now you can circumnavigate them; you can go around them and go to where you are going. That’s so important in life. That’s what that clarity is.

To have the understanding. Understanding, of course, the importance of every moment—but understanding “What’s going on in this situation; what is really happening?” To have a view—but literally, to have a bird’s-eye view of the situation.

It’s like an understanding, to literally have a view that you are not caught emotionally in, but you can look at it—and say, “Ah, there is a problem; there is a problem; there is a problem.”

You know, somebody, maybe, has a car and it’s not running well. So, somebody can say, “Let’s change the paint job.” But if you have any understanding of that car, you’ll say, “Well, the paint job isn’t the problem.”

You know, whatever the problem is, if the engine isn’t starting, then there are certain things you can look to, why the engine isn’t working. Maybe you’re out of fuel; maybe the spark plugs are gone. If the vehicle isn’t—when it’s driving, it’s not driving properly, maybe one of the tires is busted. Maybe the driveshaft fell off. These things can happen.

But it takes some kind of understanding. Same thing in life. It takes some kind of an understanding to say, “Look, I need to go forward, not be stuck in this place. I’m wasting my time being stuck.”

So, understanding can be incredibly simple—but so profound. Even that little bit of understanding, “I don’t want to be stuck; I want to go forward; I want to make the most of my life.” So, that’s your understanding.

Dignity! I mean, my God, the world works so hard to take a person’s dignity away. You realize what I’m talking about here, the dignity that is so important, that every human being has that dignity in their life.

You—if you are just a normal, common human being, you are nobody. “Get in the line. Get in the back of the line.” You’re going to go—you’re going to get no exceptions. You—if you are a normal human being, you will get no exceptions. Nothing. Nothing! A VIP, “Oh, yeah, cut in this line; do this; do this; do this; do this.”

You know, dignity—people try to take your dignity away. But you have to hang onto your own dignity—to whatever you do in this world, that you do it from that place, not of.... I’m not talking about an egomaniac; I’m talking about dignity, that strength, that clarity, knowing—that, with that smile, knowing: “It’s okay.” That dignity.

The choice! The most important thing: choice. This is what makes everything valid in this crazy world; you have a choice. You always have a choice. This is your way out. This is how you can do what needs to get done, because you have a choice. You don’t have to be the victim every single time. You have a choice—you can be making that choice in your life.

Hope. Not “hope” of the drama of the printer that keeps printing these pictures every fifteen minutes and saying “This is what you want; this is what you want; this is what you want.”

But hope—“That, yes, things will get better; things will improve; that I can go forward.” Hope that is actually built on a very solid foundation, not on a lot of beliefs—but is actually built on very, very solid foundations.

And then, contentment. Contentment, to be content inside, from inside. Instead of just constantly going, “I need this; I need this; I need this; I need this,” no, understand your needs. Because you’ve got your needs so confused with your wants.

So many people in this world will never feel contentment in their life because they have got their wants and their needs all mixed up. You will be content if you understood what your needs are. And if your needs are taken care of, you will be content.

So, these are the topics of the Peace Education Program—and I look forward to joining you again with the Peace Education Program. If, in the meantime, I get some idea or some thought and I want to share with you, of course, I’m going to produce a broadcast and let you know what that is.

So, if you want to check out the “Life’s Essentials” podcasts through Apple Podcasts or Spotify, they are available. And till then, keep enjoying; keep watching. There’s so much to watch, just from these series alone—so many of them have been done. So, enjoy those—and all the new videos that’ll be put up, enjoy those.

And till PEP is ready—I will see you then. Take care; be safe; be well. And most importantly, be—and enjoy yourself. Thank you.

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

DJ Fresh:

With our show, every Wednesday we deal with conflict resolution—because that’s what we believe

everybody needs.

Onscreen text:

DJ Fresh

MetroFM Radio Presenter

DJ Fresh:

I don’t think people enjoy being confrontational; I don’t think people enjoy being violent. But generally, on the radio, we don’t offer people solutions either. And you know, we don’t say to people, “Here are tools that you can use to maybe fix the situation.”

Onscreen text:

Metro FM broadcasts to over 10 million listeners throughout Southern Africa.

DJ Somizi

Mpho Maboi

MetroFM Radio Presenter

Mpho Maboi:

I think Prem’s message is not just pertinent to South Africa, but to the world as a whole—because we live in a very violent society.

So, when someone teaches you that, “You know what; peace is a part of your life; peace is not something that you can march towards or that you can look for externally—it’s something that you find within you,” I think a lot of people will actually—it will help a lot of people.

Onscreen text:

METRO FM LIVE RADIO

DJ FRESH + DJ SOMIZI

INTERVIEW PREM RAWAT

Johannesburg, South Africa

DJ Fresh:

This is Sands on MetroFM with Tigi. Six-forty, you’re welcome to Fresh Breakfast. Every Wednesday we talk conflict resolution, in the hope that we will arm you with tools that’ll enable you to deal with whatever conflict you may be dealing with.

And we’d like to welcome to Fresh Breakfast this morning, Prem Rawat. He was presented with the

International BrandLaureate Lifetime Achievement Award, previously given to only three other people in the world, including uTata Madiba and Hillary Clinton.

Onscreen text:

Prem Rawat

Global Peace Ambassador

DJ Fresh:

The core of Prem Rawat’s teaching is that the individual’s need for fulfillment can be satisfied by turning within to contact a constant source of peace and joy. He has millions of followers throughout the world and he’s in South Africa briefly. Good morning, sir.

Prem Rawat:

Good morning; it’s great to be with you.

DJ Fresh:

May I call you “sir”—I don’t know; what’s protocol when it comes to you?

Prem Rawat:

You can call me Prem.

DJ Fresh:

How are you doing, sir?

Prem Rawat:

I’m good; how are you?

DJ Fresh:

We’re good. Now, please, before we get into this, give us a brief history of the inspiration behind your teachings.

Prem Rawat:

Well, it’s not really teachings; it’s just, for fifty years I have been talking about peace and traveling the world. [DJ Fresh: Yes.]

And I see that people have such a power inside of them but they don’t know how to tap it. They have so many solutions inside of them, but they’re not aware of them. And as Socrates said a long time ago, “Know thyself.” And that holds more value today than ever, because we are so distracted.

DJ Fresh:

Why do you think we’re failing to know ourselves—and as a result, it impacts on how we deal with other people?

Prem Rawat:

Well, of course, we—because we don’t know ourselves, we are focusing on the outside. We are focusing for those things that really need to be coming from inside of us—for instance, peace. We’re looking at the outside world to find peace. You’re not going to find it there. It’s not there!

DJ Fresh:

Sure.

Prem Rawat:

You’re going to find it inside of you. And unless you know how to turn inside—and unless you know how to get in touch with yourself.... And that’s exactly what that is, “Know thyself; find yourself; be with yourself.”

DJ Fresh:

From what age do you think we’re able to start looking at our inner thoughts, ourselves in that way?

Prem Rawat:

Well, you know, it’s like, that’s like saying, “Monkey see; monkey do,” type of thing.

DJ Fresh:

Sure, umm, sure....

Prem Rawat:

From a very young age, we start emulating our parents. And we start looking around our world and we start emulating it.

And when that world is all going gung-ho on the outside, we too start to think the same way. We start to think like, “Well, we’re going outside; we’re—well, that’s where everything is. I want this; I want this; I want this; I want this.”

And all of a sudden we see our parents, we see people we like, all caught up in greed. And so the greed comes to us too.

DJ Fresh:

Sure.

Prem Rawat:

But, at a very young age, this all begins, because the seed is being planted then. And it’s very, very important to understand, to have that environment for our children where they can independently grow, not grow with the influences that are contaminating us.

And we, we don’t like them; we don’t like them. [DJ Fresh: Sure.] But we are doing nothing to turn to our younger generation and saying, “You know, you don’t need to be involved in this.”

DJ Fresh:

But, in a practical way, how do we break that cycle?

Prem Rawat:

From understanding ourselves. And truly, this is the most practical way. We know one thing: “If I have my eyes, I can see your face; I can see everybody’s face. But if I want to see my face, these eyes are no good for it; I need a mirror.”

And so that mirror becomes our understanding; that mirror becomes that knowledge. Not believing, not just thinking about things—but actually, the knowing of it is so powerful. It’s so powerful in knowing—because we’ve become believers: “Believe in this; believe in this; believe in this.”

We’re all waiting for the angel to come, the heavens to part—and the angel to drop down. And I say to people, “The angel has come and you are the angel. And you are here to save yourself—save yourself,” do the angel bit.

DJ Fresh:

“Take responsibility for yourself.”

Prem Rawat:

Take responsibility for yourself; understand yourself; know yourself; be yourself.

DJ Fresh:

Is it as simple as you make it sound to be?

Prem Rawat:

Well, this all depends. “How long is the walk back home?” Well, how far have you been walking away from the home? And so, the further out we get, the longer that walk is going to be.

And of course it is simple, because it is a walk back home, home to you. You are your home; you will always be your home. And you need to know you!

You know, when you have a huge map in front of you, and there are all the writings on it—but you don’t know where you are on that map, that map isn’t going to help you. [DJ Fresh: Sure.] The first thing you need to know is, “Where are you on that map?”

DJ Fresh:

A five-year-old comes up to you and says, “Uncle Prem, Uncle Prem, who are you; what do you do?” How do you explain who you are and what you do—that a five-year-old would understand?

Prem Rawat:

Well, my daughter was asked that question once and she said, “Oh, he just travels around and he talks to people.” But, the best way to explain that really would be that “I have this feeling, that I have this gift that I can talk about peace and I want to take that gift....”

DJ Fresh:

Yes.

Prem Rawat:

Because if you don’t give a gift, it’s not a gift anymore. [DJ Fresh: Ummm.] And so I want to take the gift of talking to people about peace—and causing them to think; that’s all I need to do.

You know, I don’t need to go there and hand-hold them or do anything like that. All I need to do is get them to start thinking about themselves, about the possibility of peace in their lives, and that is more than enough to start the tree.

DJ Somizi:

Let’s get into your philosophy, especially looking at love. You know, people, (some people, most people) choose to fight for relationships, choose to physically fight if there’s a conflict in that relationship.

Onscreen text:

DJ Somizi

MetroFM Radio Presenter

DJ Somizi:

Can you subscribe on how they should handle things? Does this inner peace play a huge role into maybe just walking away? And say, “You know what, I’m bigger than this”—and you are able, within that turmoil...?

Prem Rawat:

Well, yeah, peace always plays a beautiful role in everything, but let me just put it this way. Are you falling in love with another person, or are you falling in love with your expectations of that person? [DJ Somizi: Umm-hmm?]

Because if you’re falling in love with that person, then you will be in love with that person and there will be no conflict. But if you’re falling in love with the expectations that you have of that person, then surely, at some point in time, if that person is not capable of delivering what your expectations are, there is going to be the big C, the big conflict.

DJ Somizi:

Umm! Umm, umm.

DJ Fresh:

So, I’m that guy, let’s say, who, you know, whether it’s a low self-esteem or insecurity—or “You hurt me before, therefore I feel you might hurt me again”—that when I see my partner with someone else, or even just talking to someone else, maybe I lose it. [PR: Yes.] Or, I even, maybe, want to, you know, become violent.

How do I help myself—and applying what you’ve said to us?

Prem Rawat:

Well, very, very simple. It is called the “law of attraction.” A flower does not do anything but offer the bee some nectar—and the bee comes from miles around, hovering on that flower.

And that’s what you have to become—you have to become that flower. You have to be whole; you have to be complete; you have to be strong; you have to be who you truly are—and that’s when you become attractive!

It is not the Porsche that’s going to do it; it’s not the ideas that are going to do it. It is not all the other things that are going to do it. I mean, Porsche is very nice, but [DJ Fresh: Yes.] you can be so much better. You can be that flower. And you will become attractive.

DJ Fresh:

But how do I start being that flower?

Prem Rawat:

First, by knowing yourself, who you are.

You see, in the forest, you look at the trees—and then you sometimes see a vine that is choking the very host it’s riding on. [DJ Fresh: Yes.] And what’s going to happen, the tree’s going to die—and then the vine will die. And it’s, nobody is the winner.

If you want to be the winner, be the flower that offers, from a solidity, from a power.... Come, not with expectations, but offer love—love, companionship, understanding to each other. Otherwise, when the expectations get in there, it’s just grinding and grinding and grinding.

DJ Somizi:

Is like, for instance, some.... We’re listening to you—I sometimes think that, “When does it get to a point where it’s, you know, it’s not realistic?” Because there are some things that really, you have to respond in a certain way—like you miss your flight? You can’t just be going, “Oooh, oh....” [DJ Fresh: Yes.]

Like yesterday, there was load-shedding at my place—and because I’m so into this inner peace thing, I just switch on the candles and sat and waited. But I’m like, thinking, “Oh, when is it coming back now?” [DJ Fresh: Sure.] When are you...? Is it part—is being realistic to certain situations part of being peaceful inside?

DJ Fresh:

And my “add” to that, because for some people, peace to them is not necessarily a solution. “I feel better that I’ve lashed out.” [DJ Somizi: Umm.] Or I feel better that “I’ve shown that guy that was courting my wife.” It’s like, what do you say to those people that feel that the lashing out is when they find the inner peace?

Prem Rawat:

Yes. I visit a lot of prisons—[DJ Fresh: Yes.] and I see a lot of people who did exactly that. And I talk to them—and they are about as sorry as you can imagine. Now, I haven’t met anybody in those institutions where they exercised peace, [DJ Fresh: Yeah.] and then they are sorry about exercising peace.

See, there is a misconception about peace, a big misconception that you become a vegetable when you have peace. [DJ Fresh: Umm. Umm-hmm.] Peace is dynamic; peace is exciting; peace is wonderful! Peace is great.

I mean, some people think, “Oh, if I get peace, I mean, I’m just going be a vegetable sitting on some mountain looking at candles all day long.” Well, that’s not peace! That’s just somebody’s idea of a nice environment.

You know, we look at someplace where there’s the ocean; the sun is setting; there’s no wind; it’s a beautiful day and we say, “Oh, how peaceful it is.” That’s not peaceful.

Because, given one second of moment, the wind can start blowing. A one second of moment, you look at that sun that is making that beautiful light—do you know how violent that sun is? Do you know how violent the ocean can be? I mean, it can chew down anything it feels like it.

Peace is inside of you. Peace is exciting; peace brings a smile. [DJ Fresh: Yes.] And when a human being is strong, that is the most attractive thing. When they’re weak, they look for all.... To fulfill themselves, they start looking to other people: “You fulfill me; you fill this part in me; you fill this part in me.” And when that person can’t, problems happen.

DJ Fresh:

So, “Fill your own cup.” [DJ Somizi: Umm.]

Prem Rawat:

First be full. [DJ Fresh: Yes.] First be full. And if you are full, then the relationship is going to be meaningful! Otherwise, it’s not going to be one of....

DJ Fresh:

Because you’re not looking for validation, umm-hmm.

Prem Rawat:

You’re not looking for validation. [DJ Fresh: And, yes.] And this is so important—that is so important.

DJ Fresh:

Prem Rawat is in the country. Unfortunately, we are out of time—but maybe you can catch him somewhere else. Where are you going to be and why are you in town?

Prem Rawat:

I am going to be actually speaking in Cape Town—[DJ Fresh: Yes, sir?] on the twentieth, at the International Convention Center. And that particular talk, the topic on that is “Unlocking Hope.” And that’s so important.

And I just—I just, I love Africa; I love people here. Because there is a crisis. [DJ Fresh: Sure.] And they are going to overcome that crisis.

DJ Fresh:

What would you like to say to our leaders who think there isn’t a crisis?

Prem Rawat:

Well, “Open your eyes. Open your eyes and look around.” Ultimately, people need to start looking at themselves, not their leaders. The report card of all the leaders around the world pretty much would be, “failure, failure, failure,” and maybe one passed here and one passed there, but mostly it has been “failure, failure, failure.”

I say to people everywhere around the world, “Don’t wait for the leaders; don’t wait for that angel to come out of the skies. You are the angel. You become the leaders. You become the leaders in your life. You can make it happen. [DJ Fresh.: Sure.] You can make it happen and you can change the dynamics.”

DJ Fresh:

Where do people find you online, sir?

Prem Rawat:

TimelessToday.com.

DJ Fresh:

TimelessToday.com. TimelessToday.com. Ladies and gentlemen, Prem Rawat is about to leave the building.

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

Onscreen text:

Students of the Peace Education Program At Taylor’s University

Individual 1: [male]

Just recently I asked about, “What do I really want in my life?” And I always compare myself to others.

Individual 2: [female]

We are too busy in our life coping with assignments and we often forget these little important things.

Individual 3: [male]

During all his sessions, all Prem’s sessions, there are a lot of questions that pop up in my brain—and then I will ask myself, “Why are we doing this? Why we did this; why we did that?” Everything—it makes me go thinking and thinking and thinking....

Individual 4: [female]

I think what he’s trying to say is something that we all know—but it’s not something that we are always mindful of. It’s a very big reminder for all of us, especially for me, where he talks about appreciating life. And that is what I’m in lack of....

Individual 5: [female]

It’s somewhat like—makes me think of what I have always ignored in my life. But I never figured out, like, peace actually is already in our heart.

Onscreen text:

Taylor’s University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Narrator:

Taylor’s University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was the first institution in Malaysia to offer the Peace Education Program. Administrators have praised the program for helping the school fulfill its holistic mission of enriching students’ “minds, hands, and hearts.”

In October of 2016, Prem Rawat spoke at Taylor’s University as part of their “Emotional Wellbeing” series, which is aimed at cultivating and empowering students and staff with emotional wellness and health.

Individual 6: [male]

You started speaking about peace—it says you were four years old. So, actually what inspired you, or what made you choose to speak in front of so many people when you were four and a half?

Prem Rawat:

Well, and to me, you know, it—in my life, at that moment in time, there wasn’t any sorrow; there wasn’t any problems; there wasn’t any big dramas, you know, which could lead one to go to the extent of saying, “Okay, I’m going to renounce the world; I’m going to, you know, pursue peace.”

Because one thing I understood—that peace wasn’t absence of war. So, goodness, generosity, (for instance), is something. And then, to be greedy, all it is, is the lack of generosity.

So, a lot of people think that, you know, “There’s war—and then there is peace.” No. There is peace—and when this peace is lacking, when there is an absence of this peace, there is a war. What kind of war—the war can be in your mind; the war can be physical. The war can be in your thoughts. The war—it’s the same thing—but it’s a war.

And for me, none of this was there. But I understood that there is something called “peace.” And that each human being on the face of this earth, regardless of their circumstances, is very fortunate.

And that’s what I, in fact, said. I was actually reading my first speech, a few weeks back, and that’s what it was about, “How fortunate we are, that we are alive—and that, peace lies inside of us.”

Individual 1: [male]

After attending this program—and I feel that what I really want is within me, is in myself. And I don’t really have to compare with others. I’m just who I am. And it really makes me, like, grow and really answer a few of my questions in my mind.

Individual 5: [female]

So, just that it’s simple—and continue with the life and enjoy it. Yeah, that’s what I think.

Individual 3: [male]

It’s so wonderful, you know—it, the feeling of, after you’re thinking, you get the answer—like, “Yeah. That’s the thing that I want to do. Yeah, that’s the things that motivate me since I was young.”

Individual 4: [female]

Prem Rawat actually encourages us, all of us to see something that is within us, to see the gifts that we have. And it is a blessing to actually have this breath.

Onscreen text:

Video content courtesy of The Prem Rawat Foundation

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Onscreen:

KIND MALAYSIA 2018, Connecting Corporates with Civil Society

Prem Rawat:

It doesn’t take much to spark a revolution. Let’s spark a revolution for peace. Let’s spark a revolution for kindness. Let’s spark a revolution that makes a difference in this world, not only in Malaysia.

Because if Malaysia can be a lit candle, guess what Malaysia can do? Why not every country; why not—why not you who are sitting here, the participants, be the makers, movers and shakers of that incredible, incredible possibility?

Onscreen text:

Making a Difference, Kind Malaysia

Prem Rawat:

I started speaking about peace when I was four years old. I started taking this responsibility of spreading the peace, first in my native India, when I was nine. I was around thirteen years old when I went to the West, to England, America, and brought this message to outside of India.

So, here I am, and I am sure there are a lot of people, “Oh, the Ambassador of Peace,” and I’m an Ambassador, but well, what is “Ambassador of Peace” mean anyway? You’re all Ambassadors of Peace; don’t you know it? I’m not the only one. You’re Ambassadors of Peace.

And it is your responsibility too, to make sure that the peace spreads in this world—because what other option do we have, by the way? What other option is there?

So, what is this law that I am talking about? This is what gives me heart—my effort that has been going on for such a long time, this is what gives me heart. And what is this law? Here is the law. “If you take two candles, (a lit candle and an unlit candle), and bring them together, guess what happens? The lit candle will light the unlit candle.”

Not the other way around. That’s the law of nature. A lit candle will light the unlit candle—not that the unlit candle will put out the lit candle. No—not even fifty-fifty. Every single time, the lit candle will light the unlit candle.

Take heart—in whatever little effort you make in your life to bring peace. Where does peace begin? People think it’s going to begin with the world. It’s not—it’s not.

Yesterday I did four interviews. And of course, I was asked these questions, “You know, you talk about peace, and the world’s going to,” you know, “down the tubes.” (I’m not going to say the word but, “down the tubes,” it’s the opposite of heaven.)

And I said, “Wait a minute. What is really happening? Are we doing anything about peace?” Because most people, you talk to them about peace and what do they think? About “utopia.”

One day I looked up the word “utopia.” What does utopia mean? And it’s very interesting. It was around 1531 that this word was coined—it was in a novel—and you know what utopia actually means? It means “no place.”

What is being said is, “Don’t go there. There is no place like that. It’s just in your imagination.” Peace is not utopia; peace is real, on this earth, tactile. And how and where does it begin—it begins with you. It begins with your family. It begins with your friends. It begins with your neighbors.

Who are your neighbors, by the way? The house next door? The house next door is your neighbor only when you’re in your house. Your neighbor actually is whoever is closest to you, wherever you happen to be—includes a parking lot, by the way.

And these are little things that we forget in our everyday life because we are busy with our agenda.

You have a mind—and you went to school for this mind to be sharpened. You have imagination; you went to college for this imagination to be honed. Oh, by the way, you also have a heart. What have you done to hone the skills of the heart? What have you done in your life? Just sat there and thought about heaven?

A lot of people say, “You know, how is it different, what you say, than religion?” And I say it’s hugely different. And religion talks about heaven after death—I’m talking about a heaven before death, now, on this earth.

To understand the value of what we have been given—acknowledging, an acknowledgment of the simplest things in our existence: life, breath—and every day that you get.

You want miracles? Well, a miracle is happening right in front of you. Today you are alive; that is one of the most incredible miracles there is.

Do you know what it took to put you in that seat that you’re sitting on? Do you know how many species went through evolution so you could be like you are? We all take it for granted, “Oh, here I am.” But do you have any idea of how much evolution it took, how many experiments it took, so today you could sit in that chair?

What is the world that we live in? What is this world that we live in? Think about it—there is more food available today than there ever was.

There’s no shortage of food, (by the way). If you don’t believe me, go to a supermarket. If you don’t believe me, go to the buffet of a hotel. From one end to the other end, food, food, food, food, food, food, food. You don’t believe me? Start counting the restaurants on the road when you drive.

I was just in Japan. I couldn’t believe it; it was like, “Restaurant. Restaurant. Restaurant. Restaurant”—I mean, it’s like, “How...?” I mean, it was like, “Wait a minute, these Japanese are pretty skinny. How much do they eat?” But it’s like one after another, after another, after another, after another.

One of my points that I’m trying to make—is, there was a time that people thought that “If we had enough food, we would have peace.” Well, guess what? We have enough food—and we still don’t have peace. Once upon a time, people thought that “If we would have enough wealth, we would have peace.” Guess what; we do have more wealth now than we have ever had.

More diamonds have been dug up now than they ever were. More gold has been extracted from the earth than there ever was. More silver has been extracted from the earth than there ever was. There is more wealth in this world than there ever was—but there is no peace.

People said, “If people were educated there would be peace.” There are more schools now than there ever were, and there’s still no peace.

People said, “If we could communicate with each other, there would be peace.” Boy, do we know how to communicate with each other. That’s all we do: “Da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da,” and people, I mean, it’s amazing.

The first time I came to Japan and I went on the train, I couldn’t believe it—thousands of people making their way across in the subway and nobody touching each other—it was like a ballet; it was like a dance—and everybody just going, you know, as fast as they could.

And this time I was there, and there were people who had just come to a stop, going.... And it’s like, bumping into each other.

So, we have more means of communication than we ever have, but do we know what to say—no. That’s the problem. We have not caught up to technology. We don’t understand what to do with this technology.

We don’t know what transportation can do for us—we just know it’s there—and we can go anywhere we want. We don’t know why we’re going there—but we’re going there.

We have more food than we know what to do with, more recipes—more fusion food exists today than it ever has. Chinese-Indian—can you imagine Indian, (like, Indian-Indian, Eastern Indian), and Chinese food brought together? My goodness—but they have it. And it’s very popular in India.

Indian pizza! The Italians would die. And they’d go, “Eh, oh my God....” But that’s true. And we still don’t have peace.

The only equation we haven’t tried—is that “Peace begins with you.” That the kindness needs to be surfaced. We need to have a society in which we are mindful of our kindness, we are mindful of our compassion, we are mindful of our capability to be able to help the ones around us—if they need help, and that help will begin by first helping our selves.

People just listen to this, and they go, “But that’s selfish.” No, if you have traveled on an airplane, the flight attendant, I’m sure, has told you, “Before you put the oxygen mask on somebody else, put it on yourself first.” (Because if you’re passed out, you can’t help anybody else.)

Who are you? An incredible miracle? Yes. And you carry a desire for peace in you, only if you can understand that. These are your fundamental callings.

You know your routine every day—you get up, and what do you think about? Your responsibilities. Do you think about life? Do you think about life? You are alive till you are! This show that you put on is only good till this breath is coming in and out of you. That’s it, folks! When the “the end” comes after the movie, it is “the end!”

And people go, “No-no-no-no, no, I’ll, I, I.... I’ll be somewhere else; I’ll be, you know—that can’t be.” Well, yeah, we can talk about it all night long—and that’s not going to change anything. Because once you’re gone from here, you are gone from here.

It’s not about death—it’s about life. It’s about life. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do while you’re still here.

A lot of people go, “I’m too old”—there’s no such thing as that. So far you are a lit candle, how tall do you have to be to light another candle? (By the way, how tall does this lit candle have to be?) It can be that big—so far it is lit, it has, still, the capability to light an unlit candle. And that’s your forte in life.

So, what I am trying to say is, “What is truly yours?” So, what is truly yours is compassion. What is truly yours is kindness. What is truly yours is clarity; what is truly yours is understanding; what is truly yours is the light you carry in your heart.

Oh, by the way, do things that will enrichen you in your kindness. Do things that will enrichen you in your clarity; do things that will enrichen you in your compassion; do things that will enrichen you in your understanding.

And that is the day, I guarantee you, you will really, really begin to feel rich, very, very rich. And from that richness will spring forth a desire to give. And you can give nobody a better gift than compassion. Yes, people need food—but people also need compassion. Yes, people need money, but they still need compassion.

And compassion isn’t pity. What is empathy? What is empathy—look it up. What is empathy—it is “to understand, to see the similarity between you and the other person.”

It is not to take pity—and I’m not talking about taking pity. That’s not what this “kindness” is about. This kindness is about helping people, first of all, realize in themselves, their potential, their understanding. This is what the world needs.

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Annual Social Change Lecture

Prem Rawat spoke to students enrolled in the Peace Education Program at TSiBA University, in Cape Town, South Africa.

Prem Rawat:

What is a heart? What is a heart? We talk about heart, “Oh, I love you from the bottom of my heart.” What is a heart? And I have been asking people this question: “Do you know what a heart is?”

I mean, yeah, obviously it’s not this thing that goes, “Dohnk,” and “dohnk, dohnk, dohnk, dohnk”—it’s also called a heart. Because once it stops, you put electricity to it and crank it right back up—or if it’s getting its tubes fouled up, you put stents in it, one after another, to open it up and get it going again. I mean, what is a heart?

So then, let me tell you what a heart is. (I’m not here preaching to you; this is from my experience.) Then, the heart in me is where my clarity resides. The heart in me is the place where the courage to know the reality exists, the courage to be in joy exists, the courage to be a human exists.

This is the place—in me—that my understanding resides. This is the place in me where I am me, rather than the reflection of people’s wants and need.

So many people, especially when you become a father—you have your children. They look at you as a father; you think about their needs day and night. You become a mother, you look at your children; you think about their needs day and night. And all of a sudden you stop being you and you start being a father.

But a father who is not himself, a mother who is not herself, a wife who is not herself, a husband who is not himself—and pretty soon, you are a citizen of this world, but who is not himself or herself.

So, the value of it becomes the nest that is empty. Because once the birds fly away, that nest is nothing anymore. The wind will come, throw it out—all the effort that went into weaving that nest together will get dismantled—and then that’s it.

In life—because this is everything. We hardly have an understanding of what it means to be alive.

This is a powerful number: even if you live to be a hundred years old, (and that’s pretty good), do the math: 365. And do the math—it’s only 36,500 days. That’s all you have. That’s if you make it to be a hundred years old.

Do you live your day like it lives in you? With precision! A second does not waste itself, does it? But you waste a second. An hour does not waste itself; an hour never goes missing, does it? A day, does it ever go missing? But you go missing from the day.

You have a watch but you don’t know what time means. And so we try to live, but we don’t know how to live. We try to love, but we don’t know how to love. We try to be. But we don’t know how to be.

We don’t know that we have generosity.

To us, when we walk into a room and throw the lock, we are alone. We’re alone—really? Really? Excuse me, your anger came with you in that room. It’s right there. You may not be angry—but the anger is ever-ready. And it’s right with you; you did not leave your anger in some other room.

Wherever you go.... Even when you fly and they say, “Are you flying alone today”—and you say, “Yes,” you’re lying. Because that’s not true; you’re flying with a lot of excess baggage called “anger,” called “fear.” Greed—always, wherever you go it’s right there.

Ever feel lonely? You should never feel lonely. [Audience: Yeah.] You have lots of little friends that are right there. Think about it; you never leave home without these guys—you might leave home without the American Express credit card, but you never leave home without anger and fear and greed and lust.

And—you never leave home without understanding, without clarity. They’re also there with you. The question becomes, “What have you been nurturing in your life?”

Two fields: what is the difference between a garden and an abandoned field? What is the difference? Soil is soil. And sometimes you see an abandoned field and a wall, and then a garden—so you know it’s the same soil. But one is lush, green, has flowers growing in it; the other one is barren and has weeds growing in it. What is the difference?

Well, in one, somebody planted the seeds of the beautiful flowers and gives them water and nurtures them—and in the other one, nothing was planted and nobody nurtures it. And what grows is despicable, and what grows in the garden is beautiful.

In our understanding—and this is what it means. There is a really beautiful story I would like to tell you. And the story is called, “The Cracked Pot.”

Once upon a time, a king relegated to a gardener, a field, and said, “I want you to have a garden here for me.” And so the water—and this was quite high and the water was all the way down in the valley where there was a little river that used to flow.

And so the gardener would have to go every day—and go down to the river and fill his pots with water and carry them up, all the way to the garden and water all the plants and water all the grass and everything—and in due time, that garden started to look really beautiful.

And he had these two pots, big, big clay pots—and a bamboo, (one pot in the front, one pot in the back); he’d take them down.

One day, the pot in the back developed a hole in it—so the water would leak out. So, he’d go all the way down and he’d fill both the clay pots up; he’d bring them up and by the time he’d get up, one pot would be full; one pot would be empty.

This went on for a while. One day the pot from the front said to the pot in the back, “You’re no good. You’re useless. This gardener works so hard; he goes all the way down, fills them up, fills both of us up with water, but because you have a hole in you, by the time he comes up here, you are empty; I am full. And this garden that you see that is so beautiful is because of me.”

This made the pot in the back very sad. One day when the gardener came out and looked at the pot in the back and said, “Why are you so sad?”—it’s just a story. [Audience: Yeah.] But it’s a beautiful story. [Individual: Yes, we get that.] He looked at the pot in the back; he said, “Why are you so sad?” He says, “Well, I’ve got a hole in me.” He says, “I know that.”

He said, “Every day you take us down there; you work so hard and you fill us both with water and that one in the front, which doesn’t have a hole, because of him, this garden is green and it’s beautiful. But because I have a hole in me, I am no good. By the time you bring me here, I’m empty.”

So, the gardener looked at the pot with the hole—and said, “I want to tell you something. I know you have a hole in you. But I never stopped putting water in you. And let me tell you why.

“Because of the pot in the front, only this garden is green. But because of you—have you noticed?—all the way from the river to this garden, there are beautiful flowers growing, and it’s all because of you. This garden is only enjoyed by the king—that path is enjoyed by so many who admire the flowers growing there.”

Sometimes we don’t understand. Because of our ideas and ideals that the world places upon us, we don’t understand our own power; we don’t understand our own potential.

There is no limit! Do you understand that there is no limit to understanding? There is no limit; there’s no physical limit to understanding. There is no limit to joy! There is no limit to happiness. Do you understand the power of that?

When you are in pain, people go to churches, to temples, to mosques to pray to God saying, “God, please, get rid of the pain.” Do you think anybody goes to a temple, a mosque, a church to pray to God and say, “Please get rid of my happiness?”

There’s no limit. There is no limit—and people wonder why human beings don’t come with a manual. Because maybe it’s too obvious? Manual not required? Engineered to perfection?

That you can hold the happiness of the whole world and never gain an ounce—and enjoy all of it. But you have to understand what true happiness is.