Topics
Here it is. This is the opportunity. You come—automatic: here you are. Basics are provided. And you’re going to go—automatic. And to make it clear, you don’t know when. Because if you knew, you would sit there and lament that day. I mean, talk about waste of life!
You know, we have had these guys come occasionally on the face of this earth, and in no uncertain terms say exactly that: “You want to get the most out of it; it’s not happening again!”
And that what’s here is simply divine, the only place where you can truly understand the manifestation of that Divine. You can look at the stars, and you can be in awe. Be in awe, “Wow.” That there is silence! And what is silence? Silence is the only thing—the true silence, the inner silence—is the call of the Divine.
Not words—but the call of the Divine. To hear that and to understand something—not something complicated but something very simple. And what is that? What is that? That one shortest, most complete sentence in the English language. You know what that is? “I am. I am.”
Until, in your life, that little sentence, until that starts to mean something, forget it. Can you walk the life without the ideas? Can you walk the life without the ideas? Can you wake up in the morning and say, “I am content knowing I am?”
– Prem Rawat
You know, the understanding of, well, who the self is—a lot of people think that this is a very Eastern idea—understanding the self. It’s not. It’s a human idea—understanding the self.
“Who are you? What are you?” Everybody on the face of this earth, soon or later, will ask the question, “Who am I?” Above and beyond everything that we get involved in—“Who am I? What is it to be a human being?”
You come in this world—and I was thinking today, “For me, everywhere I go, it’s like passing through.” So I go home, and I’m just passing through. I’m not there too long; I’m passing through. And I go to one country, and I’m passing through—and go to another country, and just passing through.
And before you know, life is the same way—just passing through. And this is what we do. And in one way all the complexities of being on earth—our relationships, our ideas, our wishes, our dreams—trying to realize those dreams…
Trying to wonder why things happen to us the way they do; why things are good; why things are bad; why things are right; why things are wrong … all these complexities—and we want to understand them!
But we never focus on understanding, “Who am I?” And unless you know who you are, what is your reference? Unless you know what a human being is, how would you know what a human being is supposed to be?
But, what is a human being? Of course, these are physical traits—but what is a human being? And what is the importance then, of understanding what a human being is?
Because, in our aspirations, what do we want? There is a state of being, and in this state of being a person becomes desireless—desireless. You can call that state “contentment”; you can call that state “happiness”; you can call that state “bliss”; you can call that state “peace”—and I don’t really care, because these are just words.
What I do care about is that state. I don’t care about the words. Ah, but the world’s caught up in the words: “Talk to me about peace. You’re Ambassador of Peace.” What? Peace is inside every human being. And peace is something that really cannot be talked about. It needs to be felt.
So, the question then becomes, “In this process of feeling the self, understanding the self, do you feel that state? Are you in that state, in that state of equilibrium?”
Now, you may say, “What are you talking about?” Well, this is how your body works—your physical body works like this: if there is something wrong, it’ll tell you. But if there’s nothing wrong, it shuts up!
Feeling of well-being is… some people call it “peace.” Because there, no more, no less, nothing being weighed; nothing being measured. “Go on. Be. Exist.” And filled with the feeling of well-being, glad to be alive, content—content—this is the nature of the self. This is the nature.
– Prem Rawat
This gift of breath is an incredibly powerful gift that you have been given—incredibly powerful, that you have been given. Do you understand its value? Do you understand that this is one gift that all the money in the world cannot buy?
You cannot write it in the will—in a will, in an agreement—that, “All my breath will go to this person.” No. It’s only for you! Accept it, understand it. Cherish life, cherish consciousness, cherish your strength, cherish your heart, cherish knowledge, cherish peace—and you will understand the kindness of the Divine on every human being.
– Prem Rawat
When you were born, in the whole room they were only focusing on one thing—not if you are a boy or a girl, not your palm of your hands, of what your fortune is going to be. Only one thing: “Are you breathing or not?” This is how it is. If you’re not breathing, the doctor slaps you, “Breathe!” Again, “Breathe!” You go, “Aaaaa!” Doctor is happy; you are breathing.
All your life you’re going to breathe! Do you know how they will figure out you’re gone? “Are you breathing or not?”
In the hospital, if they have a machine and the machine says you are dead, but you’re still breathing, what do you think the doctor is going to hit? You or the machine? The doctor is not going to come to you and say, “Hey! The machine says you are dead!” No, the doctor is going to hit the machine! “You are broken.”
– Prem Rawat
You know, I say—and I have said this at many, many events with hundreds of thousands of people there—and what I say is this: “All the major religions in the world, if they just did one thing, which is to tell their people, their followers, ‘If you want to go to heaven, first make it heaven here.’”
That’s all, that’s all. Nothing has to change. Just add one more thing: “If you want to go to heaven, make it heaven here.” And we would have a different world.
– Prem Rawat
There are many, many, many interpretations of this story, or many ways this story has been put—but there is a new one. And a man came...and he came to the Master. The Master had a very beautiful palace that he lived in, a beautiful city that he lived in.
So the Master told the guy, he says, “Oh, you have come?” And he goes, “Yeah, I’ve come to you; I want to talk to you; I want to learn from you; I want to be enlightened by you.” The Master said, “No problem. But first, go enjoy—enjoy my gardens; enjoy my palace; enjoy the city—it’s really beautiful, really, really beautiful.” And the man said, “Okay, I will.”
He said, “Before you go, take this lamp with you.” And he filled the lamp completely full of oil, right to the top, right to the brim—and he said, “Here, take this with you when you go seeing everything, and make sure you don’t spill a drop. Don’t spill a drop.”
The man went seeing, appreciating the palace, appreciating the gardens, appreciating the city. And when the man came back, the Master asked, “How was it?” And he goes, “Well, my whole attention was on not spilling a drop from this cup. I really walked around aimlessly. I didn’t really enjoy anything because my focus was here, instead of where it should have been.”
The Master said, “Okay. Now, go again! Leave the...leave the lamp behind. Don’t worry about the lamp.” He came back: “How was it?” “Oh, oh, I enjoyed—oh, and the statues were beautiful. Oh, that was...it was just marvelous; the garden was incredible; the flowers were incredible; the statues were incredible; the paintings were incredible; the marble was....”
The Master said, “Look, all that existed then too, but you were not focusing on that. Your focus was somewhere else.”
Where is your focus? In your life, where is your focus? You should be enjoying being alive. Do you enjoy, just enjoy being alive? Just being alive? Do you enjoy being alive?
I know, I know, I know you enjoy parties; I know you enjoy going to your friend’s house; I know you enjoy your songs; you enjoy your movies; you enjoy this; you enjoy that. I know you enjoy all of that. But do you enjoy being alive? Just being alive?!
Because if you don’t, you’re focusing on the wrong thing. Because this is the garden; life itself is the garden of the Divine. Its beauty is unparalleled. It is full of the reflection from the Divine. It is fine; it is beautiful; it has colors....
That’s where truth resides—a truth that is non-confrontational, a truth which is simple, a truth that’s embracing, a truth which is real, a truth that brings peace. That’s where this heart wants to dance.
– Prem Rawat