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You know, in our lives, we have learnt a lot of things. As we are today, this is not the way human beings used to be. We have learnt how to make buildings; we have learnt how to make airplanes; we have learnt how to make cars; we have learnt how to make this, have that—everything that you have in this world—even wars. We have learnt how to make wars. And we have learnt how to make the instruments for the wars, but we have not learnt how to be in peace...how to be in peace.
Not how to make peace. You have to be very careful what words you use, because if you have to make peace...? If human beings were responsible for making peace, they would do something so completely bizarre with it, that it would be unbelievable.
How to be in peace—because peace already is in the heart of every single human being. Being so close, and being so far.
But for those who are interested in peace, there is a whole another chapter. There’s a whole other field. There’s a whole other thing to understand, of how we can be fulfilled. That this life is not about just birth and death. That this life is about fulfillment; that this life is about peace; that this life is about understanding; that this life is about clarity; that this life is about feeling that gratitude.
Gratitude is the highest expression of a human being. But it can only happen when there is truly a reason for it. If you’re not thankful...? Just by saying it, it’s empty. What are you thankful for in your life? What are you thankful for?
Oh, see, it’s very strange. You tell people...they sit down in a room. You ask them, “What are you thankful for?” And it’s, “Oh, I am thankful for so many things. I am thankful for my family; I am thankful for my job; I am thankful for this, and I’m thankful for that, and I’m thankful for that, and I’m thankful for that, and I’m thankful for that.” And all I have to say is, “Really? Really? Really? Really, are you thankful for being alive? Are you?”
How many times during the day do you say, “My goodness! I am alive. Thank you for this life”—during the day? Do you really, really, really, really—you get up in the morning and the first thing you say is, “Oh my God. I am alive.” Or is it, “What time is it? What do I have to do?”
How many times during the day do you feel gratitude for being alive? How many? Once? Once a day? Twice a day? Three times a day? Four times a day? How many times a day do you feel thankful for being alive?
How many? Once a day keeps the doctor away? At least...and sometimes not even that? At least he’s honest. If he is honest, he can learn! He can learn. Because that’s the reality. Once is not enough; two times is not enough. Every time you feel alive, your heart will fill with gratitude. You see, you don’t have to make your heart feel full of gratitude. It needs to be naturally filled with gratitude. And naturally being filled with gratitude only happens when there is a focus in your life.
– Prem Rawat
In this segment, Prem takes a deep look at what it means to be a dreamer. From the day you are born, until the time you have to go, you are living your dream. So what defines your dream? The answer goes back to the heart of Prem’s message. Look within to understand what defines you. This is your dream, this is your existence—live it to the fullest!
A lot of people want to be thankful. They want to have gratitude. But there is a problem. You cannot have gratitude without gratification. You have to have gratification. And you know what one of the meanings of gratification is?
One of the meanings: to be fulfilled. Fulfillment. If you want of feel gratitude in your life, great! How do people express that? Smile. Have a nice day! I wish it was that simple. Somebody says, “Have a nice day” And you go, “Oh! Great now I’m going to have a nice day.”
See, real gratification is what you need. And when there is real gratification, gratitude is automatic.
People ask me what should we be thankful for? It’s a trick question; it cannot be answered. If you don’t have gratification, trying to pretend that you are grateful will never happen. But when you have gratification, when you have that fulfillment in your life, gratitude is automatic. You don’t have to work on it. That just happens.
- Prem Rawat
The question becomes: is the focus to have that joy in this life? Is the focus to be content, to be fulfilled? Or is the focus on bewilderment? What do you entertain as a thought every single day? Gratitude? Or “I wonder what’s next?”
You have both possibilities. You have the possibility of being in a place where you entertain that one singular, most beautiful thought of gratitude, of fulfillment. Or you have the possibility of bewilderment.
Bewilderment will not bring you gratification. Never has, never will. Knowing, feeling, experiencing will. Don’t let them go to waste. Don’t. Live your life consciously in gratitude, in knowing, in clarity, in simplicity—and prosper! Of course, prosper! Absolutely, prosper! Bloom. Be fulfilled.
- Prem Rawat
When you were a baby, you didn’t have much awareness of change, and this and that. But you started going to school and things changed—where, all the people you really knew were the people that you came across every day—your mom, your dad—now all of a sudden there are all these other people.
And you start learning you have to interact with them, and you have to be submissive; you have to be assertive, and somebody comes along and take your book, and somebody might do something and do something and do something, and you have to be nice, and you have to be this, and you have to be that. Things change. It’s not a severe realization; it happens pretty gradually.
Then comes that time when now you can have a driver’s license—and you feel, like, some sense of accomplishment, “Now things have changed!” And these are all kind of, “nice change,” but then comes that other change; you realize, “Ah-huh, umm-hmm! There is a new smell in the air”—that you never smelt before. And the body is not performing the same way.
And there are so many people who want to hang onto their youth—when the body itself doesn’t want to hang onto it. “Done.” There is a big difference, my friends, in being healthy, staying healthy—and trying to look like who you are not. Do you get it? There’s a big difference.
Because, one is a presentation—of that which you are trying to hide, which is inevitable. It’s going to happen. It’s going to happen! Slowly, things are going to change, and this change has been afoot. This change started when you took your first breath. Not before that. When you took your first breath, this entire change started.
Now, I know everybody’s like, "Whoa, that's heavy stuff." It’s not heavy stuff; it’s nature. This is how it does it. It’s for everything. Trees will age. Even rocks. Mountains!
You look at some mountains and they are nice and soft—right? And you look at the other mountains and they’re sharp, and all, you know, edgy and...? You know what the—why? One is an old mountain; one is a new mountain. The new one hasn’t had the chance to get softened.
That’s neither good nor bad. It has nothing to do with it; it is just how it is.
I say to people; I say, "Do you know that somewhere on this planet Earth the sun is rising always? And it is setting always. This process of sunrise and sunset is continuous." It doesn’t feel like that to us, does it? We look out; "Oh, the sun is out, but, ah, let’s go, arrr-arrr-arrr...."
But if you have ever looked at a sundial, what it’s really showing you, is it’s constantly moving—slowly—but absolutely.
So is your life, so is your body, so is this time, so is all of this. It’s in a constant motion. You don’t want that. You want—you want to have a little "pause" button, get to that one nice point and go, “Tah-dah! I want to stay here.” But that’s not how it is.
So, in this change, is there any certainty? Because change can bring another element into it, which is uncertainty; you don’t know where you’re headed. "What does this change actually do?"
Well, there is a certainty. And the certainty is, your ability to enjoy will not diminish, even with age. Your ability to feel gratitude will not diminish, even with age. Your ability to be happy will not change, even with age. Your ability to have clarity in your life will not change, even with age—provided, provided you have made those things the core of your life.
- Prem Rawat