HUMAN POTENTIAL
COURRIER JAPAN
MAGAZINE INTERVIEW
Interviewer:
And so, this is our magazine. It’s a business magazine, as you know. So, it’s popular with people in their twenties and thirties—business people here are our main readers.
I’m forty. I’m just a little bit older than our readers, but I’m a representative for our readers, and I will—I would like to have them understand more about who you are and what you do.
So I read the book, and I think it’s full of a lot of wonderful things, and there are lots of things that are very touching in it.
So, one thing that struck me about it as well, and that is wonderfull, is that a lot of young people here in Japan are very busy; they have very little time. I’d like to talk more about how people in that kind of a lifestyle can also benefit from this—how that will benefit them, how they can connect with it.
So, if some people, especially people who are very serious in business and busy, they hear “peace,” and they think, “Oh, that doesn’t apply to me, you know, because I’m busy; I’ve got to do this; I’ve got to do that.” They think it’s something that would happen, you know, at a different time for them. They don’t think it’s relevant to them, always.
So, what would you say to people in that kind of a position, who wouldn’t immediately think that peace is something for them?
Prem Rawat:
What really has to be understood—that what the message is, is about strengthening the foundation, not as it relates to business, directly, but as it relates to the human being that has to do business.
So, the focus always is towards strengthening the business. And this book is, in a way, asking the question, “How strong is the human being that is doing the business?”
Because if the human factor is not strong—because this is really trying to touch about the human potential. And greater the person realizes their potential, the greater they will be able to achieve on the outside too.
So, this is how it really relates to it, and it’s a critical point. You know, so it’s kind of like, the family wants to go somewhere. So, everybody gets ready, and everybody has good clothes on. And they have their lunch, and they have their picnic basket, and everybody is happy. But nobody put the gas in the car. So, that’s, that’s that. Yes.
Interviewer:
So, that’s the foundation—putting the gas is the foundation.
Prem Rawat:
Yes, it is the foundation.
Interviewer:
So, how do we go about making that foundation stronger?
Prem Rawat:
It is by understanding the potential that the human being has.
That, yes, you can come from clarity, that you can come from peace. And more you realize your human potential, you become more empowered.
So, to empower business, you need a good business plan; you need good understanding of the business. And to empower the human being, you have to have the understanding of the individual. And the more you know about the self, the more empowered you will be.
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Interviewer:
So, does it require training, or work, to take a little time to work on that aspect, to develop that understanding?
Prem Rawat:
That understanding can be developed in the middle of a busy schedule. Because, first, you have to say, “I am more than what I think?” And it’s like, “Yes!”
As a human being, most of us know about failure; we know about disappointment; we know about anger, fear. But we don’t know much about joy. We don’t know much about clarity. And we know so little about peace.
Interviewer:
So, we’ve become experts at the negative things, but we haven’t been studying the positive side.
Prem Rawat:
Exactly! Exactly. This is what this book is addressing. Peace is not a luxury; it’s a fundamental necessity. Clarity is not a luxury; it’s a fundamental necessity. And unless we address these fundamental things, success is not going to happen.
Because unless you have the balance, it’s going to stay off-balance. To succeed in this world, you also have to succeed with yourself.
Interviewer:
I see; I see. So then, I’d like to—how about if you’re trying your best to go in that positive direction. But what if the people around you are those negative elements and it’s hard to go in that direction? So, I understand, it’s not—we shouldn’t blame other people. It’s not—and we can’t say it’s other people’s fault for something, but....
But sometimes—sometimes the emotions come out in the middle of that. Say, there’s a problem, or something happens, and you get pulled away from that, a peaceful state, and you get pulled towards an angry emotion. Is there a way to prevent that from happening, or to stop that from happening?
Prem Rawat:
Yes! Yes, of course!
Interviewer:
So, I’d very much like to hear....
Prem Rawat:
Because, all day long, we go out; we go on the street, and there are all these people, and they have a different face than yours. So, when you come home in the evening, does your face change to everybody else’s or you still have your face?
You still have your face. Even though all day long you were walking with people who looked differently, it didn’t affect your face. In the same way, if you have the inner strength, then regardless what happens outside, that strength will separate you.
If I am dependent upon him for my clarity, if I am dependent on him for my inner strength—if he goes away, I fall! So, if you find your inner strength, if you discover your potential, then regardless of where you are, you can feel your strength. That’s what strength is.
For a tree, what is the strength? Today it’s very calm. It doesn’t need much strength. But when the storm blows, and it needs the strength; it needs the root. Because if it’s weak? Whack!
So, will a storm come? Yes, absolutely. Little storms, big storms—and you cannot stop the storms. So a lot of people think, “I will just stop the storm.” You can’t stop the storm. But you can have a better strength.
And this is what—this book, in its message, is really going towards the fundamental, the business of life. Because if you don’t know the business of life, soon or later you will need the strength—and you won’t have it. So, yeah, this is about empowering the individual.
Onscreen text:
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN
2015’S DECEMBER ISSUE.
