Topics

Peace—either you feel it in your life or you don’t feel it in your life. If you feel it in your life, enjoy it! If you don’t feel it in your life, find out how you can get to that peace. And that’s the only area where there is something to say: “How can you get to it?”

And the first step is, what is peace? What is this elusive thing that we are all trying to pursue? Is it an idea? You know, it’s like somebody who makes statues. Maybe they take a pencil and they draw their idea on a piece of paper, but that’s obviously not a statue—it’s just an idea.

And then they take the chisel and a hammer and a piece of marble that is the size of that statue that they want to be, and what do they do? They create a statue. Okay. But what is the process of creating the statue?

The process of creating the statue is to remove all the unwanted marble, so that what is left is the true expression of the artist, of what he really feels.

Could it be that peace is no different? That it is removing all those things that do not belong there, leaving only that that the intent of the artist has.The questions that begin to form are, “Is what we are doing what we really want to do?” Because, what has gone away from peace? Why do you not think that the peace is a happening thing?

The individual is missing from the equation of peace. Peace is not social. It’s an individual…it is an individual phenomenon. And this is what has to be understood! That, if we want peace, we have to look at our own thirst, explore our own thirst for that peace.

This is what will drive the drive that is needed to find peace in our lives. And we search—because we, as human beings, we do not want these wars. We, as human beings, do not want this confusion. We, as human beings, don’t want all of this stuff. All we want is the simplicity. All we want, truly, truly, truly….

It’s like that beautiful saying, “Give me a tall ship and a compass to steer by.” That compass…

– Prem Rawat

There was a man, and he was on his way to his fields. And as he was walking along, he came across an object. Now, this village that he was from was very, very remote, and hardly anybody ever visited. This village was also very isolated from any technology, any new things.

So when this man came across this object, he picked it up and he looked at it. And he was very surprised! And he said, “Wow, what a beautiful painting of this beautiful person! How beautiful is this painting; how beautiful is this face. How incredible.”

So he took that, and he put it in his bag. That day he came home; he pulled out the so-called “painting” and he put it on his dresser, and he just sat there and watched and watched. He was mesmerized at how beautiful this painting was. This was so gorgeous!

The wife saw him sitting and gazing at this object, and she was very confused. So when the man went to get some dinner, she snuck into his room, and went and looked at this so-called “beautiful painting.” And she was shocked.

She was shocked because she saw in this object the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. And immediately, being of a suspicious nature, she said, “Ah-hah! Now I understand why he’s been sitting here and watching. He is in love with this woman, and indeed, he would be in love with this woman because she is so beautiful!”

She became furious—started fighting with her husband. “What is the matter of this? You know, why are you not faithful to me? I mean, what is wrong with me, and why…why do you…why do you fall in love with this other woman?”

The father, the owner of the house, the elder, he came, and he said, “Why are you two fighting?” She said, “Well, because! He has this painting of this incredibly beautiful woman on his dresser.” And the man said, “No, you’re lying.” So, the elder, the father, decided to go see for himself

And when he looked at this painting (so-called painting), what he saw is this man, beautiful gray hair, beautiful eyes, beautiful flowing beard. He said, “Oh, my God! This is a picture of God himself!”

And now, all three of them are fighting. And they’re fighting, fighting, fighting, fighting, fighting. Finally, a wise man happened to be passing by; he peeped in, and he said, “Why are you guys fighting?”

The man said, “Listen. You’re looking in a mirror. This is no painting. This is called a ‘mirror.’ All it does is simply reflect. What you saw was not any other man but you yourself! And what you saw—as he turned to the wife—it was you. You don’t have to be suspicious—that was you!”

And he turned to the old man and he said, “Old man, that’s no picture of God. That’s you.”

Why the war? Because they didn’t know who they were. When they saw that reflection, they didn’t understand. And then, once it made sense: “That’s me!”

But what makes you, you are these attributes of knowing, of wanting peace, and recognizing the peace you have within you.

– Prem Rawat

How many times are you confused? How many times do you not understand? How many times do you ask yourself, “Why am I here?” How many times do you wonder, “What’s going to happen to me?”

How many times during the day, the sadness can overcome you—when you can choose happiness for every single moment?

That you can choose clarity for every single moment of your life.

That you can choose the strength because both are in you—how much? Exactly fifty-fifty. Exactly fifty, fifty, (not fifty-one or forty-nine) fifty, fifty.

How much confusion do you have in you? Exactly fifty percent. How much clarity do you have in you? Exzzzzzzactly fifty percent.

And you have to choose. You have to choose.

Have you heard about a sunflower? You know most plants—they need the sun; they need the light the photosynthesis—this is what works makes them alive.

So, the sunflower in its dramatic beginnings chose something. And you know what the sunflower chose? The sun. It will follow the sun from east to west—and at night, turn around and wait till it comes again, from east to west. This is what it chose!

“Sun flower.” Is this what you’ve chosen too? To follow that clarity?

Tomorrow, Monday will come. Responsibilities will come. I’m not here to tell you “don’t be responsible.” But I’m here to tell you, “Don’t be so irresponsible that you do not accept the responsibility that comes with being alive.”

– Prem Rawat

Today I’d like to begin with a little story. Once a man was seeking to become wiser. So he was searching for a wise man. He searched, and he searched, and finally he found a wise man. So he approached the wise man with great respect, and he said to the wise man, “Could you please make me wise? And give me wisdom?”

So the wise man said, “Certainly, I’d be happy to. But first, I have to water my crop. So will you please come with me to the well, where I’m going to draw water to water my crop. And I have one condition. My condition is, whatever you see, don’t say anything. Just be quiet. After I have finished watering my plants, I will teach you wisdom.”

So the man thought to himself, “This is very good—all I have to do is be quiet, watch him water his plants, and I will become wise, because he will teach me wisdom!” So, he went with the wise man; the wise man threw the bucket in the well. And he said to the man, “Now, just be quiet. Don’t say anything. Let me finish watering my crop, my plants….”

Pulled the bucket out—and the bucket was full of holes. So the wise man pulled, pulled, pulled, pulled it out; got to the top. The bucket became empty! So, he threw the bucket down in the well again.

So this man is thinking, “Hmm. Is he really so wise? Doesn’t he know that his bucket is full of holes? How is he going to water the plants—because every time he brings the water up, it’s empty.” Then he said, “But! All I have to do is be quiet—and he will give me wisdom.”

So then the wise man threw the bucket down again and he pulled it out. And by the time he pulled it out, the bucket became empty—and no water! This time he cannot resist. He says to the wise man, “Excuse me. Don’t you know that your bucket is full of holes? And it cannot hold anything?”

And the wise man said, “So is yours. All I asked you for is to be quiet. That’s all I asked you for. You saw my bucket full of holes, but you didn’t realize that your bucket is also full of holes. You would not be able to contain any wisdom.”

But what stops it from manifesting? Because the bucket is full of holes. Every single consideration is given: what is good; what is bad; what is right; what is wrong. Everything in this world is judged, but the reality is never given a chance to manifest.

The reality of this life is not about other people; it is about you.

– Prem Rawat