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I’m so glad that I’m here, at least, and have this opportunity to talk about something that’s very profound, very misinterpreted, but nonetheless very profound. And of course I’m talking about gratitude.

Now, why is it misinterpreted? Because people say to themselves, “Oh, I should feel more thankful in my life.” But you don’t! That’s the fact. Should you? Yes.

That’s like, you know, making a New Year’s resolution, but you don’t go through with it. Because what will you do the next year? You need to keep that one going, so you can say, “Oh, yeah, yeah, this year I’ll do it; this year I’ll do it.” And this is how we work.

But true gratitude is not manufactured. It’s real! It comes from within you—when the things are right—not when they are wrong, when things are right. So what are the things that have to be right for the truest gratitude to flow from a human being? One of the things that has to happen is, there has to be appreciation. But appreciation of what?

People say—and I’m not saying that this is wrong by any stretch of the imagination: “You should be thankful for your family.” You should be. But you’re only thankful to your family if they’re doing what you tell them to do.

If the situation reverses and the family is telling you to do things that you don’t want to do, you’re not going to be thankful. And, but, you know, okay, this is just how it is. Not right, not wrong, not good, not bad—but just this is how it is.

Your dog is happy to see you; he’s wagging his tail. He’s hoping you will give some attention, maybe a nice little snack perhaps. And when the dog realizes none of that’s going to happen, and you’re going to be busy doing your thing, the dog finds a place and sits down and it’s like, “And, okay.” All that “hah-ah-hah-ah-hah!” goes away.

So, interestingly enough, a few days ago, it was at nighttime, and I was up. And what had come to my mind that night was “Someone loves you”—just that. “Someone loves you.” Now of course, who is this someone?

Because we are very caught up in our names; we are very caught up in our nomenclature, how we address each other, how people address you, so on and so forth. I mean, it’s like, if somebody says—so, if your name is John and somebody says, “Hey Tom!”—you’ll go, “And no! I, it’s, I’m not Tom; I’m John!” What difference does it make?

Because if there is somebody called “Tom,” they’re made out of the same thing as you are—exactly! Maybe you look a little different, but that’s just rearranged molecules.

So, it’s not—the importance isn’t who that “someone” is. So it’s like, pointless to even, even try to figure out who that “someone” is, because you don’t have the capacity to figure out. You can have an imagination, but your imagination will fall short of the reality of who that “someone” is. So, knowing that it’s a futile attempt, I don’t even go there.

Ha! But ‘loves you!’ That’s good! And how do I know this? I know this because this gift of breath comes to me. I have been given an opportunity to be alive.

But when we come across our problem, we are so intrigued by that problem, and so willing to find a resolution to that problem that we blind ourselves to still what is going on around us.

That this breath still comes into me. That I still have an ocean of answers in me. That I have an ocean of clarity in me, that I have an ocean of kindness in me, that I have an ocean of joy in me. That I have simplicity in my life. That I have light in me. These things—regardless of what is happening.

- Prem Rawat

I was thinking about the concepts yesterday, and it gave me goosebumps when I came to this thought of living one’s life without concepts. I mean, it would be so childlike. Because that’s what children don’t have!—is concepts. None! None! They just, wherever they go—I mean, and then they start to accrue them. But till they do, they’re just like, “What is this?”

I remember, one of my kids when he was very young; he wanted a knife. We were like, “Man, you know, you’re going to cut yourself.” He wanted a knife. So I said, “Okay, here—here is a Swiss knife.” I just gave it to him.

And he goes in the closet, and goodness, sure enough, trying to open it and close it. he just wanted to have a knife. I mean, he cut himself. Then he knew what I was talking about. And it wasn’t a concept; it was reality.

So, of course, you don’t want them to get hurt and stuff, but they don’t have the concept. I mean, and do we have a concept? And we have a....

I say the word "divine" and it’s not the same light bulb that goes on everywhere. Because I can see that from here. Somewhere it’s green; somewhere it’s blue; somewhere it’s purple; somewhere it’s yellow; somewhere it’s, you know, red; somewhere it’s white. Because we don’t even know when all these concepts crept in.

But listen to your heart; listen to that simple wisdom that is inside of you. And that wisdom doesn’t tell you to go chop down a tree, to paint the house red. That’s not your heart talking; that’s your mind.

What the heart talks about is simple: “Enjoy; be grateful; be thankful; be conscious; be real; be in that bliss”—a very small instruction manual from the heart.

– Prem Rawat

People say ... (and you’ve heard this expression,) “In your heart” ... “from your heart.” “From the bottom of my heart....” Well, what is this thing called the heart? I mean, what is it ... heart?

Is it, “duk-duk, duk-duk, duk-duk, duk-duk,” thing? I mean, I don’t think there is anything, “bottom, top” ... [sighs] and there’s chambers in there, or there’s valves in there, but I don’t think any of that has anything to do with joy and peace and....

So, so, so, what is this thing called the heart? So let me tell you what it is. Heart ... is the place ... where the courage resides ... the courage ... to move on, to go forward ... to fulfill ... who you really are.

Heart ... is the place ... where your truest wisdom resides. Heart ... is the place ... where you will find ... your passion. Heart ... is the place where you will find your compassion. Heart is the place where you will find the simplest of knowledge. Heart is the place where you will find the quest ... the thirst ... for being fulfilled.

All that is good in you ... all that is good in you, (not from the perspective of the world,) but that is good in you from the perspective from a human being ... is the place ... where all these beautiful things reside. And that is the place referred to conveniently ... as being the most important ... as being the most important, and thus called “the heart.”

Do you know ... do you feel ... in your life ... that simplicity that the heart offers you, that the life offers you—life, existence?

Falling in love is not a formality. Falling in love happens, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Falling in love with the idea of happiness. Falling in love with the idea of peace. Falling in love with the possibility to be content. Falling in love with the possibility to be clear. Falling in love with the possibility to be free. Falling in love with the possibility to know.

Love!

If you don’t have the love and you have all the rituals, all the rituals of this world cannot make you fall in love.

You can have your wife tattooed with “I love you”, “I love you”, “I love you”…You can have your towels embroidered, “I love you”, “I love you”, “I love you”, “I love you”. You can buy the wallpaper, “I love you”, “I love you”, “I love you”, “I love you”. You can go and… and you know breakfast cereal which has got all the alphabet, you pick the “I love you”, “I love you”, “I love you”, “I love you”. But all that “I love you” will not make you fall in love with that person. No way. Not possible. Because falling in love happens with the heart.

The simplicity. The innocence of falling in love. Innocence. You cannot go out and say, “Today I’m going to fall in love.” Love sees no time. Love is not lust. Don’t ever mistake love for lust. Love is love; lust is lust. And many, many of you might see a picture, might see a postcard, might have a thought… that might be lust, but love is different. And love is innocent. And it is from an innocent place that it comes. And if you do not have that innocence, you will not have the love.

So if you want to be in love, work on the innocence - Not embroidering the towels, because it was that innocence that brought you to that love. And the day you begin to believe in your heart again, the complicated world will magically disappear.

The complication of this world that hounds you can only exist because of one reason: ignorance. Believe in this heart and the message of this heart to you, to be fulfilled. Isn’t that what caused your search to begin with?

Each one of our stories that is so different and yet so alike. Your name is different, your face is different, where you were born is different, how you were raised is different. How you view this world is different. But falling in love and its innocence is the same for every one of us.

- Prem Rawat

These hands have cradled a baby. In human beings, these hands have cradled a baby. These hands with the skill and knowledge of a surgeon have healed a person. These hands, with the intent of love, have held a face and comforted.

These hands have picked up a gun and destroyed a life. These hands—not mine but hands of the world. Next thing you know, you know, say, “Oh, you killed somebody?” No. No—but have taken and destroyed.

It is of utmost importance to understand that the actions of these hands has to be governed by the heart and not the craziness of this world.

- Prem Rawat

Allow this heart to become a major player in your life, major player in your life. Let this heart be that place from where the spring exists, that the request for peace in your life comes from.

Peace is not that difficult. You know why? Fortunately, the people who want war are a minority! Of 7.5 billion people on the face of this earth, the people who want war—that is a minority that wants war. The majority of the people on the face of this earth want peace.

I think the cards are stacked in our favor. Play the game—not because of fear! Play the game. That’s what they want. Peace will be the finest achievement of mankind—not going to the moon,  that’s old hat. Been there; done that. It will be peace that will be the noblest achievement of mankind.

– Prem Rawat