The beginning of the year, I was in England—and I had to do a lot of driving. Usually I spend more times in airplanes than cars. Well, England changed that; I spent more times in cars than anywhere.
And—ah!—London gives a new meaning to the word “traffic.” I mean, you’re driving only two kilometers, so, and it’s going to take you forty-five minutes. Absurd! So, I’m sitting in the car, and this and that, and then nothing much to do. Music is playing; I’ve figured that out. You know, I got a nice playlist, so…“and maybe I can listen to it....”
I see this man. But first, actually, I saw this lady. So, the car was parked here, and this lady is coming. And she’s got a bicycle, and one hand is holding the handlebar—she’s walking—and she’s, with the other hand, going, “dah-dah....” And she’s talking.
And I looked at her. And it’s like, I felt sorry for her. Because, with one hand on the bicycle handle, and then talking. And there was nobody else there except her. And I felt sorry for her; it was like, “Looks like she lost her marbles.” And then when she came closer, I realized she had her Bluetooth headphone on, and she was on the phone.
Well, that made me feel a little old. It’s like, “Geez! You’re not with the program, sir.” Because, believe me, when I was growing up, you see somebody just talking to themselves on the roadside, you knew they’d lost their marbles. Those were the only ones.
There was a guy in Dehradun who was like that. Sometimes you would see him at the crossroads, doing “police work,” you know, just “handling traffic.” And then sometimes you’d see him somewhere else, and sometimes you’d see him somewhere else, and....
It’s like, “Oh! Okay, don’t be so judgmental, you know. She’s just having a phone conversation.” And then I see this other guy, and he comes through—and he’s zipping right along! He’s got a white stick. And then I realize he’s visually challenged.
And he’s got a white stick, and he’s just going, “Teh-teh-teh-teh, teh-teh-teh-teh, teh-teh-teh-teh, teh-teh-teh-teh, teh-teh-teh-the,” and he’s just clipping right along. And he’s—there are other guys—he’s walking faster than them.
And then of course, the car inches, and I get to watch him. He’s walking faster than the car, believe me. And then the car catches up, and he overtakes. And I realized something.
He’s not looking for obstacles! He’s not looking for obstacles. He’s looking for a clear path. And so far he has a clear path in front of him, he’s good. That’s what he’s searching for. He’s not searching for obstacles; he’s searching for a clear path.
And an obstacle comes, it will—he will feel it, and now he knows that that is not a clear path, and again he will start searching for where there is a clear path. And so, he’s searching for a clear path.
Let me ask you, in your life, you search for obstacles or the clear path? No, you don’t; that’s the problem. I wish you did. You look at the obstacles and go, “Oh, my God!”
Right? Somebody gives you the bad news? You see the obstacles; you don’t look for the clear path; you have no training in your life for “clear path.” You have training to look for obstacles. You know what a problem is. You don’t know what a problem is not.
So, all your life you have been looking at obstacles, “Is that a problem? And is that a problem? Is that a problem?” Why do you look at your watch? To know what time it is? What do you care? It’s relative to something else. “Am I late? Is it time to go on? Is it time to have dinner? Is it time to go to sleep?” Relative to some thing: “Is it time to wake up?”
When you just—when you wake up at night, you look at your clock. Why? Why? Oh, if you’re awake, get up! “Mmmmh, it…” Waking up doesn’t work like that. Waking up works like this. “Okay! I’m ready to get up—but only if it is the right time.” Because, what if you’re up at two o’clock in the morning? Now you’ve got a problem! “And, aaaahhh, God, it’s only two. [snore] Go back to sleep!”
The sum of your life is searching for problems. You’re petrified of problems; you pray for no problems; your prayers are associated with problems. What is the problem with success? “Problems” is the problem with success! Success is not so easy, because there are problems in the way of success.
Problems, problems, problems, problems, problems, problem—no wonder they come your way—all our way. Because we have almost got signs everywhere, “If you’re not a problem, go away.”
And your life becomes completely relative. Isn’t that how you judge your happiness? Isn’t that what “good times” and “bad times” are all about? Rough—what defines a rough patch in your life? “We’re dealing with problems!” Easy patch? Where the…even the problems pity you.
Change this equation. Look for the clear path, not the problems.
For a person who is visually challenged, they don’t see the obstacles. “Obstacles” is not an issue. So far they can find the clear path, it doesn’t matter how windy it is; it doesn’t matter how straight it is; it doesn’t matter how smooth it is; it doesn’t matter how rough it is. So far it’s a clear path, it’s good to go. Find the clear path in your life.
There is light! There is light. Find the light. It’s in you. This last little statement, “There is a light, and that light is in you,” is the statement that has been most repeated by the sages, saints, and all those who wanted to leave the most important message for mankind, that would help us all. The most important message, and that is, “There is a light, and that light is in you.”
Light that candle inside of you. There is a law, the most powerful law there is—amazingly powerful. If you bring a lit candle and an unlit candle together and touch them, touch the heads, this is the law: “The lit candle will light the unlit candle.”
Not the other way around—where the unlit candle will put out the lit candle. No, the law is, “When those two meet, the lit and the unlit, the lit will light the unlit.” And you know how long this law has been in action? When human beings figured out fire, that’s how it happened—a little fire could start a fire in an unlit pyre. Power!
This should be your hope. Not dreaming about accomplishments, not dreaming about all those other things that we dream about. But the hope is to understand this law and practice this law every single day.
Not easy, but easy if you are the seeker of the clear path. Difficult, if you have learnt how to identify obstacles—because obstacles in themselves do not provide the clear path. For that, you have to search.
And so, even a person who’s visually challenged clips right along. Poles—going, whisht! London lights on bridges, right? Not a problem! It’s not a problem. Other people—not a problem. “Tshu-tshu-tshu-tshu, tsch-tshu-tshu-tshu, tsch-tshu-tshu-tschu, tsch-tsch-teh-teh, teh-teh-teh-teh, teh-teh-teh-teh,” and, “whsheeeow!”
Why can’t that simplicity be in our lives too?
— Prem Rawat
