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Prem Rawat

And if you don’t know you, whatever you fill yourself with is pointless. Because you should be full of that Divine!

Not of your mind!

You should be “Divine-full.” Not mindful.

Only when you can understand “That that Divine is in me and that Divine is in you” that’s what we share.

Not the two eyes. Our two eyes don’t even see exactly the same thing. That’s why in court it’s very hard to have an eyewitness. Because everybody sees the same thing differently. But the main thing really becomes, “You. Your experience. Your understanding. Your understanding of the self.”

The day, the day, the day you see the breath as grace you’ve got it. You’re enlightened, officially, from me. I don’t give out certificates but I’d be happy to. The day you see the preciousness of being “is!” not “was and will be,” is?!

You’ve got it. That’s it! That’s what it takes!

When you sit down, you close your eyes, and you let your focus go inside and you experience that experience of the Divine.

And you allow your heart to rejoice, that’s it! You just fulfilled the purpose of being alive.

Prem Rawat

The memories that you have are a very big part of your existence. It defines you, it defines the world around you. Without that memory, you could go into anyone's house and claim it to be yours and make people very upset.

"This is mine, my suit". "This is me", is part of your memory. So, why am I talking about memory then? Because curiously enough you have some control over your memory. You can make them pleasant, or you can make them unpleasant.

So far, so good? Since you shook your head 'yes', that begs a question. And the question is, do you try to make your memories pleasant?

Because you're going to store lots of your memories. And no matter what you have been through in your life your memories were there.

So you can have some control over good memories, beautiful memories. Not all your memories are going to be good. You're going to have bad memories. You're going to have terrible memories.

Because you can't change the world through your memories. Only yourself. In fact, memories are an incredible way to make your life incredibly pleasant.
You have to learn then, the art of that which is not good, to wash it away, let time take it, and all that is good, that is pleasant, that is right, that is wonderful, keep it.

Keep it, keep it, keep it, keep it, keep it. What do you think of that? So what's the problem?

What's the problem? Are we done? Ah! It's going to require for you to be incredibly conscious. So things do not unfold randomly, but unfold the way you want them to unfold.

You have to understand, you cannot control the airlines. And you cannot control the captain. And you cannot control the refuelling truck. And you cannot control the baggage handlers. And you cannot control the boarding agent.

But you can control how you feel. Even in the face of adversity what do you want to feel? Because if you feel good...And I will get to that, what good is.

It depends on what you deploy. If you deploy just your logic, just your logic then, "What the... in the world is the matter with this airline?

They're taking my money, and wasting my time. My money, and my time, they're wasting it.

And I deserve better than that." But if you deploy kindness, if you deploy joy, if you deploy this whole premise of being conscious, "Just get me there."

"Two hours late? Great." "We can't take off because of the weather."

"Thank you.

Because I don't have a death-wish." "Fine." I would rather have a pilot who goes, "Can't be done."

Than, "Let's do it." So if you deploy in your life kindness, and your memory is of that kindness...

See where I'm going with that? You're going to have something incredible to remember, to identify with, to think about again, and again, and again, and again.

Prem Rawat: 

Is peace still possible? Yes, peace is still possible. Is joy still there, yes; your heart is still there, yes. Is the infinite still around? Of course. And so far the infinite is around, you’re set! If the infinite is gone, then you’re in trouble. But the infinite is around, and you are around? It’s all good.

When I was in lockdown, (hah, hah-hah), a long time ago, I, you know, in the 80s, I had turntables. I had records. So, I said, “You know, I had these wonderful, beautiful records. Where are they?” And couldn’t find them, couldn’t find them, couldn’t find them, couldn’t find them, and then one day, way back tucked somewhere, there they were, all my records.

And I brought them out, started cleaning them. And there they were! They were something that I had gone, I had bought. Some of them had been unopened; they were unopened albums. And there they were from the 70s, all this incredible music and – there it is! I realized, “I’m not going to take it with me. But I’m going to enjoy it, so far I can enjoy it.”

This life, my friends, is about enjoyment. And if you can enjoy the divine, that’s the motherlode. Because there’s nothing like the divine. Always there. Always was. When you were one, when you were two, when you were three, when you were four, five, six, seven.

Isn’t it nice to discover something that is from a long time ago in your life that you liked, and it was wonderful? (Like my records?) Well, the infinite is like that. The infinite was there when you were one, and two, and three, and four, and five – all the way to however old you are.

What is the undefined contentment? When you understand it is not based on anything – but it is to be content.

“I will have contentment if I have this!” That’s what happens in that world of “It isn’t, wasn’t, won’t be.” (I should keep it straight for my own thinking.) It wasn’t! Isn’t, and won’t be. The power! The power is not that that “wasn’t, isn’t, and won’t be.” The powerful is the one that was, is, and will be – forever.

Past the human species. Past! Was before there was anything called human, anything stirred, any dirt hadn’t even come around to form the earth. And it was there. Is there – even through this stupid pandemic, is there. And will be there even after this pandemic. Even after the human beings. Always.

When that is your source, now you have connected onto something incredibly meaningful. And when you have connected to that something incredibly meaningful – your life becomes meaningful. Every moment becomes meaningful. Because it is very hard to be conscious when you are in the company of nothing. But it is very easy to be conscious when you’re in the company of everything.

And the tragedy, the tragedy would be to be in the company, (because there is no way you can be anywhere on the face of this earth and be devoid of that company of the infinite) – and not to have recognized that, but rather have connected with all that that wasn’t, isn’t, and won’t be. That’s what I wanted to tell you. That’s what I wanted to tell you.

And if you want to give it a thought, give it a thought. There are two. Being conscious is: “What choice are you making? Are you connecting with that which it isn’t? Or are you connecting with that which is, and will be, and was?” And this is our opportunity. And it begins with each one of us.

Prem Rawat: When you take one candle and light it — and from that candle, you take that candle to an unlit candle and you light that candle. And then you take that first candle that you lit, and then you light the second candle. And the third candle, and the fourth candle, and the fifth candle, and the sixth candle, and the seventh candle, and so on. (All the way to ten.)

But isn’t the flame the same — that lights this candle, lights that candle, lights the other candle, and the other candle, and all the subsequent candles? But is it the same candle? Candles are different because there’s a number for the candle, “one, two, three, four,” but the flame is the same.

That’s the divine in action. That’s the divine in action. Seven billion candles, and the same flame — in each one! Flame: candle. Divine in action. Seven billion candles: same flame. That’s who you are. That’s who you are. That combination of the candle and the flame. What is the relationship?

Now, this candle is valuable. This candle gives light; this candle is precious. There is the candle; there is the light. Now, what I’m about to say, pay attention. And then I will stop. That candle, when it is lit, there’s one issue that you have to be careful of. I mean, it’s beautiful; it’s incredible; it’s great; it’s just all good. But you do have to be careful of one thing.

And that one thing that you have to be careful of is “Now, the candle is going to cast shadows.” And that is called “ignorance.” Whilst you’re alive, shadows cast is ignorance. When you hit that wall and disappear, you don’t have to fear. No more ignorance.

All you have to do is be careful. Pay attention to what is important. Pay attention to this breath. Pay attention to being alive, (which is you’re not hitting the wall). Pay attention to everything that is right in your life. Don’t be intimidated by the shadow. Rejoice for the light. And then, your life can be a celebration as it needs to be.

And I sincerely hope that your life, every day that you haven’t hit that wall, becomes a celebration for you. Because everything less than that is a compromise.

When I first went to the West, I was only a teenager. In fact, it was my first year of being a teenager—thirteen. And all these people would come—much older than me, much more educated than me. And they would sit down, and they were very proud of the fact that they were searching for peace.

And I would say to them, “Why are you searching for peace? Why are you searching for peace when peace is inside of you?” Search not for peace, but search for the way to be able to get in touch with what is already inside of you.

And so the question becomes, “Well, you already have peace, right?” Do you? Or don’t you?

Because nothing is missing. There is nothing missing from the equation. You have in you—this is the way you are made—all that you need you have, and you have been made to take advantage of it.

Maybe you don’t have a temple for it. Maybe you don’t have a song for it. Maybe you don’t have a garland for it. Maybe you don’t have a light for it. Maybe you don’t have a location for it. But it is here, in you.

And if you are unaware, then you’re unaware of something fundamental. And this is ignorance. What is ignorance? It’s a play of words in English, but “ignorance”—where does ignorance come from?

Generally, when somebody does something bad—a little child or something—we say, “Oh, it’s okay. He was ignorant.” 'Ignorant' generally is considered to be an excuse to forgive the person, because “they were ignorant.”

But that’s not where the word comes from. The word actually comes from “ignore.” “Ignorance"—ignorant comes from the word “ignore,” which has to be done on purpose.

See, we say ignorant. "Oh, he’s ignorant; it’s okay.” But “ignorant” actually comes from the word “ignore,” which has to be on purpose—that you ignore something.

Ignorance in this world...we think, “Oh, people are ignorant.” No! If they are ignorant, that means they’re, on purpose, ignoring that which is real. Not a fluke! Not a fluke.

And people go, “But I don’t see it!” You’d talk about the Divine, “But I don’t see the Divine!” So, do you see gravity? Do you see the earth spinning? Does that mean it’s not?

You cannot, in this life, merely live in tangled beliefs. Yes, this is the first time I’m using this, “tangled beliefs.” Because beliefs will get tangled. It is their nature because they are so open to interpretation. But knowing is not open to interpretation.

The Divine, in the same way, is everywhere, and by “everywhere” meaning, also in you. To me, when I hear the word “everywhere”—when I hear the word “omnipresent,” it doesn’t mean just omnipresent. It means “in me as well.”

And if that reality is knocking in me, if that reality is residing in me, what am I doing in my life to feel it, to acknowledge it, to understand it? Because if you want peace in your life, that’s the only way you’re going to get it.

– Prem Rawat