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When I say “heart,” when heart is talked about, heart is the place in a human being where the goodness in you resides, where the clarity lives, where your God lives with you, where understanding lives, where the peace lives in you—that’s the heart. The place of light, not darkness

– Prem Rawat

The first person you have to make friends with is you.

You cannot make friends with other people if you are not friendly with yourself.

This is why it’s important to know yourself.

You know the whole world, but you don’t know yourself. Number 1 point - Know Yourself.

This will bring you peace.

-Prem Rawat

Have you created the circumstance for yourself where you can find contentment, where you can be fulfilled? Because if not, what peace is is going to mean nothing to you.

If you don’t understand the value of being alive, then everything is all out of phase. No amount of wisdom is going to come and make any difference.

– Prem Rawat

Everywhere we look, it’s like the fuse of the bomb is lit, and the only difference is how long the fuse is. It’s only a matter of time. Some have a short fuse, already blowing up; others have a long fuse, slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly burning.

Because the basic core understanding of “what is a human being” is gone! Now the only thing that exists is reasons and logic.

We have armies, but believe me, no soldier wants to fight. No soldier wants to fight. If they don’t have to fight and risk their life...? Because those soldiers have a baby waiting for them at home, have a wife waiting at home—and in their imagination, a future waiting at home—and they want to come home.

But there is something in us that also makes us fight. There is something in us that also makes us fight. We are a projector. Everything, we project. When we are happy, we smile. Not on purpose—we just smile! When we are sad, we have a very long face.

It doesn’t matter how funny the situation is—still, we express! And the war outside is the expression of the film that’s playing on the inside.

– Prem Rawat

There are some things in this world that are not subject to thought. They’re subject to feeling. When you are tired and you start to fall asleep, you can try to tell yourself, “This shouldn’t be happening.” You can try to tell yourself this is not the appropriate time. You can try to tell yourself this is not the appropriate place.

But if you’re tired, you are tired—and the body says “bye-bye” to all your reservations, to all your ideas. I mean, I have seen pictures of U.S. presidents in the most important of conferences, and they’re falling asleep. I have seen grown men in a train, in front of everybody, snoring away. Because it is what it is.

The quest for peace does not begin here. It is a feeling, and it comes from the heart of every human being. And so, to truly understand this subject of peace, one also has to understand it from the very heart of one’s being. Not analysis. Because obviously the need for peace, at this moment of time, is incredible.

– Prem Rawat

Onscreen text:
Discovery Not Creation
Radio Interview Excerpt

Umhlobo Wenene FM Radio
Johannesburg, South Africa

Zizo and KCi
Interview Prem Rawat

Zizo Tshwete:
I’d like to know, when you go around and you teach the principles of having peace, do you think it's important that the leaders of nations buy into the idea so that it filters through to the people, or do you speak more to individuals?

Prem Rawat:
Well, let me just clarify one thing: I don't teach and I don't preach, and that's absolutely out of the question for me. All I want to do at most is to say things to people that will cause them, that will evoke something in them to start thinking for themselves, to start understanding, “Yes, peace has always been inside of me.” If I don't feel that peace, it is because of the obstacles that I have created, not somebody else has created. I have created for myself.

You know, distraction. You have to be attracted to a distraction. Because a distraction might be doing something, but then you get attracted to that distraction and that attraction takes you away from where you want to be attracted to. 

To be fundamentally sound, a building is built on a foundation. You don't see the foundation. Nobody decorates a foundation because it's buried. But the integral structure of that building, actually the integrity of that building depends not on what you actually see, but what is the foundation.

So, what is the foundation of a human being? You know, do you want to be happy? I don't see anybody going to any church, any temple, any God, and saying, “God, I've had too much fun. I'm too happy. Please do something to reduce this happiness.” When we get sad, we do do that. We say, “This is too much sadness. I want to get rid of sadness.” What does that tell you? That tells you that we like to be content, that we like to be happy, that we like to be in peace. We like to be in joy. We like to be in clarity.

Zizo Tshwete:
Right.

Prem Rawat:
And we don't like confusion. We don't like anger. We don't like fear. We don't like these things, but they're both in us absolutely.

I mean, if I may, I can tell you a little story, if that's okay. Once upon a time, there was a settlement. And in the settlement a lot of people were living and there was a chief. And one day the chief was approached by a young kid and he said, “Chief, I have a question. I'm confused. I have a question.” And the chief said, “What?” He says, “Sometimes I see that people are good. And sometimes I see the same people who are good, they are bad. How can this be? I mean, either a person is good or a person is bad.”

But he says, “No. Sometimes people are good. And then sometimes they're bad.” And the chief said, “That's because there are two wolves in us, a good wolf and a bad wolf. And they're fighting each other.” So, the boy thinks about it and said, “Why do they fight?” So, the chief says, “So they can have control over you. They can have supremacy over you.” So, the boy thinks about it and he says, “So, chief, tell me, which wolf is going to win?” And the chief said, “The one you feed.”

Zizo Tshwete:
Mm. Hmm. 

Prem Rawat:
So we feed the bad wolf.

KCi August:
Wow.

Prem Rawat:
The bad wolf will get strong. And a lot of people think we should beat the bad wolf. Beating the bad wolf is not going to help the good wolf. The good wolf has to be fed. Doing things to the bad wolf is not going to help anything. And sometimes we just get caught up. And it's like, if we could just remove the darkness from the room, there will be light, right?

KCi August:
I know.

Prem Rawat:
No. You know, you cannot take a bucket and try to remove the darkness and then hope there'll be light. No. Bring in the light and the darkness will automatically go away.

KCi August:
So, how do I get there somehow? Obviously, there'll be sacrifices along the way.

Prem Rawat:
No, no sacrifices. Because you already have it. See, there's a huge difference in trying to create peace in your life and trying to discover peace in your life. And I'm talking about discovery, not creation. Anything that we have to create that means that is not in us already, but peace is in us already.

Zizo Tshwete:
Wow, this is deep.

KCi August:
It’s more like finding peace in something that is already there.

Prem Rawat:
Exactly. It's discovery. It's discovery, not creation.