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There’s a lot of businesspeople here, they want to make money. I don’t blame you. Money is a nice thing to have, it can get you into a lot of trouble. So far you’re making it, it’s fine. So far you stop making it, you are in a lot of trouble. You become nobody. So far you keep making money you’re somebody, you stop making money, you’re a nobody.

And yet you realize that you’re not going to be able to take a cent of it with you. Money belongs to no one. What you say is yours…That house you live in has your name on the front. One day it’ll have somebody else’s name in the front. That’s the nature of things. Not good, not bad, not right, not wrong. That’s just the nature of things.

Yes, people need food. But people also need compassion. Yes, people need money but they still need compassion. And compassion is not 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 others. 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.

- Prem Rawat

Religion has its place. Absolutely, religion has its place, and politics has its place. But so does humanity. You are human, first. If you lose your humanity, you lose everything. Then you become poor; then you become weak.

But so far that, on the face of this earth, we do not lose our humanity, we will be strong enough to help each other.

– Prem Rawat

People go—and they go, “I want to live in the moment called now.” And I’m like, “Noble thought! But you don’t even know what that is. You have no clue what is now.” Because it’s gone by the time you say “now.” It’s gone! It’s not there anymore. It’s—it’s gone!

And in fact, the reality is, the things are happening very fast—really fast: “Gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone!” And I, as a human being, I have no idea of the speed that this is going by—no idea. I’m like, “Oh, it’s okay; I’ll do it tomorrow.” Do you know how many “nows” will go by between now and tomorrow?

Somebody actually wrote me this question, “You know, people tell me you should think about tomorrow.” And she said, “People tell me to think about tomorrow, but I just want to be in the now.”

And I am like, “But what else can you do about tomorrow? Only think about it.” What else can you—but, by the way, what else can you do with tomorrow? You can imagine it; that’s all. Just think about it. Sit there and wonder what’s going to happen—if things will go your way or won’t go your way.

And you’re waiting for things to go your way. Aren’t you looking for the ultimate justice where everything will be put right? The only problem is you’re going to hit the wall before that happens. Because you have no idea how quickly that wall’s coming.

But, never underestimate the power of what’s keeping the two walls separated. Never underestimate the power of this breath.

Understand it, and you will understand what there is to understand about tomorrow, and what there is to understand about today, and what is there to understand about now—and what is there to remember about yesterday and what is there not to remember about yesterday. Because you’ve got to ride this moment called “now” to understand what now is about!

Think of it—think of it as this board, beautiful board—and they’re flying, whshew, whshew, whshew, whshew, whshew; you’ve got to catch one. And you’ve got to catch one, and you’ve got to get on it and ride it! And then you will understand. Then you will understand what now is all about.

It’s like, have you ever flown a kite? I have. And it’s a lot of fun. And logically it makes no sense whatsoever. It’s just a piece of paper or a cloth with bamboo in the case of paper or a fiberglass rod in terms of those big kites. And you have a string. And of course, you need the wind to fly it.

So you’ll get there in the field; you hold the string in your hand; the kite goes up, and you’re just looking at it. And it’s flying, and that’s a lot of fun. Does that make any sense? Because you could get somebody else to hold it and hold the string. And that guy can run out 300 feet and hold the kite, and you could just look at it. But that’s not any fun!

It flies in this wind, and you feel that power of that wind through that kite, through that string, in your hand. And to keep it up there you have to be with the game. Because when the wind starts to go down, you need to run backwards. And it goes back up, and the wind picks up, and now you can let it go, slowly, slowly, and you can get back to where you were.

It’s something about flying a kite; I don’t think anybody can explain to anyone why it’s so much fun. And it’s the same way, riding that board of the moment called now, of what it is like to get on it and go, go with that moment called now! And be there. And to ride—take that ride, and take that ride inside, not outside.

And all of a sudden, slowly everything starts to fall away; everything doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is the ride itself, the ride with the breath—to slide with this breath, like those waves in the ocean, this breath coming in, this mighty force that has been made so gentle, holding apart those two walls: “I exist. And I appreciate my existence.”

And it’s okay. I’m full! I’m not full because of some thing, but I have found the fullness of my clarity in me. I have taken that plunge and dove in—and loved, and know—I know I did not touch the bottom. And for as far as I could see, I saw clarity. There was no end.

And if that wasn’t enough, I’ve taken a dive in the ocean of kindness, and I did not touch the bottom; I didn’t even try. And I was overwhelmed by its vastness.

I am full because I have been shown the fullness of this life. This is what you should do too. I tell you this—I tell you this—because if I can do it, you can do it.

- Prem Rawat

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. One of the points that I'm trying to make is, there was a time when 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've ever had. 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! So, we have more means of communication than we ever had, but do we know what to say? So, that's the problem.

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 ourselves.

— Prem Rawat

When people talk to me who know, who can smell the other wall—they can smell—and you can smell the other wall, by the way. It has a smell. You can smell it; it’s in the air. It’s like—sniff, sniff—nasty. It’s coming as you get closer and closer and closer.

I say to them, “No matter what happens, remember this breath. Remember this is a gift.” A gift is not measured in quantity, by weight, by volume. The gift is measured in the generosity of the giver—that even this was made possible!

That inside of you resides this most amazing experience. Most—absolutely the most amazing experience! An experience of those very things, of that very power, of that very—uh! what can I say?—that is prying the two walls apart. And all it requires is for you to know how to turn within and tap into it, just witnessing—just witnessing.

And such is the power of this—such is the power of this that it leaves you with peace. Such is the power of this that it leaves you in that simple profound joy.

- Prem Rawat

If I am traveling in a train or in a bus—some public transportation system—in an airplane—and I have a bag in one hand, right? And in my pocket, in my pocket I have a 40-carat diamond, pure, beautiful—one of the most expensive diamonds. It’s in this pocket right here. And I am traveling on this bus.

And then, in this bag is like, nothing—just some tissue paper; that’s all. And all of a sudden somebody comes and snatches this bag away from me. What do you think I’m going to do instinctively? This is what I’m going to do. This hand—not this hand—this hand is going to go, “Did I still have this?” This is gone!

All right, I—granted, I am allowed, "eahhh!"—for a moment. But then I’m going to do this. And so far I’ve got this, I am all smiles! Right?

Why? Why? Why? Why? Have you—or have I…? Just now, have I not been robbed? Of course I have been robbed. I’ve been robbed. Somebody took my bag of tissues. And maybe it was tissues that I needed to get rid of, but I couldn’t find a paper recycling bin. So I thought, maybe on my way I’ll find a paper recycling bin and I’ll dump this in there, and, you know, it’ll be done.

So now this guy has just done me a favor; he’s taken it. He’s going to dump it somewhere. But I have no question about the preciousness of what I have in this pocket.

Your problems are just like that. And, "eaahh!" Yes, you’re allowed that; "eahh-ah!" Yes, you’re definitely allowed that; it’s a shocking thing; somebody takes this thing from your hand. But then, you know. And you’re not going to say, “Hey, you forgot this!” No, you’re not! You’re going to go like, "Good riddance." This, you know the value of.

Do you know the value of kindness in your life? Do you know the value of clarity in your life? Do you know the value of joy in your life?

So, that "someone" who loves you has given you these to use as you wish, as much as you wish. You think there is a limit to kindness? You think you will ever run out of kindness—ever? Can you technically run out of kindness; is it possible for you to run out of kindness? No! Is it possible for you to run out of joy? No!