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Prem Rawat:
Hello, everyone. I hope that you’re all well—and taking it one step at a time, staying fluid. And basically, you know, the motto still is, “Don’t give it to anyone and don’t get it from anyone.” And if you can do that, (figure out a way), then that’s good.
So, today, what I want to talk about maybe is most appropriate, beginning with this story. But this is no ordinary story. And many of you might think this is not a story. Well, that’s fine too.
But it is the impossible story; it is an impossible thing that has happened. And what is that? That is, defying all logic, and maybe even defying the laws of physics, something has happened; something has taken place.
And that is that the infinite, the most amazing, the endless, what cannot be created and what cannot be destroyed, has come and is residing inside of the very finite thing. So, the infinite has come to reside inside the finite. Wow. If that doesn’t break every single rule, I don’t know what does.
First of all, two things occupying the same space at the same time? Absolutely, absolutely. And then, the infinite that has no limit, that has no beginning and has no end, that was never created, will never be destroyed, that was, is and will be, is residing inside that that wasn’t, is, and won’t be. That’s what’s going on; that’s the little story.
And that happened. And if you don’t believe me that it happened, then look at yourself. You’re the evidence that it happened, that it took place. And so far this breath comes into you, this is happening.
One day, it won’t be like this. The two will separate. Infinite will be—and finite will drop out, go back to being the elements it came from—will not be able to talk, will not be able to love, will not be able to celebrate, will not be able to laugh, will not be able to be. Everything will stop.
So, this is what you could do—you could laugh; you could smile; you could be in peace; you could live your life consciously. You could know yourself. You could have a heart full of gratitude. You could have kindness; you could love; you could forgive; you could understand.
These are the things you can do. Each one of these, incredibly noble, incredibly noble, incredibly beautiful, not only enrichens your life but whoever you touch with this. This is the possibility that has come together in this little story, where the infinite—and the impossible finite, have come together, joined forces to make you. This is what’s going on.
Now, I know you have your problems and sometimes you get buried in your problems; you have your issues; you have this; you have that; you know, you worry about things.... But please take a look at this possibility. Please take a look at what this is, the coming together of the two most impossible things, the infinite and the finite.
And while this happens, none lose their nature. The finite stays finite—and the infinite stays infinite. They don’t lose their personalities; they don’t lose who they are. They don’t lose their meaningfulness; they stay intact—but they come together and they merge.
And one possibility that definitely opens up when this happens, when this takes place—and this possibility is that you can experience that infinite. What is that experience like—and obviously, this is a very inappropriate question—but what is that experience like? (And of course it’s inappropriate but let’s ask it anyways, right?)
And, of course, I’m not the first one saying this—but it is the experience of joy; it is the experience of bliss; it is the experience that is fulfilling; it is the experience, in fact, of peace. That’s what it is about.
So, it really starts to now come down to, this impossible story has to be weaved—because this has happened, but now it has to be weaved. And it has to be weaved into something good—and that will be your story.
I’m not saying that people will remember that story—but you will. You will know that story. You know your story, up till now—whatever and however you have survived, however you have lived your life. What you worry about, what frightens you, you know those things. What wipes that smile off your face, what do you think about other people, what do you think about you, you know those things.
And how do you want the story to be woven? Do you want the story to be about joy; do you want the story to be about victory?
Or do you want the story to be about the lost war? Not the lost battle, lost war—the war against the darkness, the war against all those other things that distract me. You’re fighting a war every day against those elements that distract you from what the possibility is.
And we sit here—and we try to legitimize those things. We try to legitimize our concern, our worrying, our sorrow, our pain, all those things. And for—I don’t know for how long we have been doing it.
And, you know, people always say, “Well, let’s be practical.” Well, let’s be practical. Would you use your car as a shovel? No, a car would make a terrible shovel. A car is meant to be a car, a thing that can transport you from point A to point B. That’s what it was constructed for. That’s what it was made for.
If you try to use an airplane as a car, it would make a terrible car—it does. It’s awkward. A lot of airplanes, and you know, the tricycle configuration—ridiculously hard to taxi. And huge wings—you would be always clipping something. Visibility isn’t all that great. And the engine, very unresponsive because, you know, it has to produce thrust, and that’s the only way it’s going to go forward.
But as a plane...? A car cannot be a plane—and a plane cannot be a car. (Even though they try to, you know—these days they make these airplanes that can kind of function), but they’re awkward; they still are awkward.
So, what do you want this story to be? You have to give it some thought—“What do you want this story to be? What do you want the possibility to be? Do you want appreciation in your life? Do you want joy in your life; do you want peace in your life; do you want understanding in your life? Do you want these rich elements in your life that truly make anyone’s life a pleasure, a joy?”
Or do you want all the things that you worry about every day—not that it does anything—but of course, you sit there and worry.
Because in this physical world that you live in, your actions count. And that’s the only thing that—and not what you sit there and think. That doesn’t count.
I mean, if you’re driving a car and all of a sudden you slam into the back of somebody—and the police officer asks you, “What happened?” And you say, “Well, I thought about braking”—it doesn’t count. “You thought about braking,” that doesn’t count—“Did you brake or not?” That counts. And if you didn’t, then, of course, you’re at fault.
So the question isn’t what you’re thinking; the question is, “What are you going to do about it? What are the things that are available to you—that you know, that you can count on, that you know will work?”
You know, and when I say this—look, Socrates said it such a long time ago: “Know thyself.” It wasn’t in the context of, “Yeah, you know you may as well get to know yourself—you’re trying to know everybody else.”
No, it was in the context of, “It’s very, very important that you know yourself. That in fact, that’s a big piece of the puzzle and if you don’t know yourself, you’re missing the picture.”
So, today, the story we have weaved, in our story, we know everybody else; we know this person; we know that person—but when it comes to us, we don’t know. We don’t know. We don’t know who we are. We don’t know what this possibility is.
And looking at it from—it has always helped me—looking at it from the perspective of, “Wow, there’s the infinite inside of me. And here is the finite. And I have the possibility that I can relate to that infinite inside of me.”
Now, “infinite” is a huge word. And so what is infinite? Well, “Felt—but not defined. Something I can feel. And something that brings me a happiness that’s so different than happiness that I experience in this world.”
Of course, you know, I’m happy to see my puppies. I’m happy to see my children; I am happy to see my grandchildren; I’m happy to see my family. I have, you know—but there’s another happiness, another kind of happiness—knowing me, knowing and feeling that infinite that is inside of me.
That’s the possibility. And whatever story I have weaved up till this point in my life—and sometimes I feel like my life has just gone by like in a flash. I mean, I remember very clearly, (and uh-huh)—I am one of those people who has been photographed very well over the period of years, and so I’ve got a lot of pictures of me, and throughout all the periods of my life.
And I—there’s one picture of me where I’m a little baby and I remember that picture being taken. And, you know, here I am. And what is this all about?
And I’m so grateful that I have that contact, to be able to reach in and experience that infinite. That was the big game-changer for me—to understand the beauty of everything, “That, wow, part of all that that is so wonderful, that is so incredible has also touched me.”
And that’s what counts. You know, it’s not like I don’t have problems; it’s not like nasty things don’t happen to me; of course they do. But the good things are always happening too.
And which one do I want to latch onto in my life? This is a decision I have to make every single day. “What do I want to latch onto; what is important to me?” And that’s what this story is all about—and it has to be. And that’s what your story should be. Not the other one.
Because all those things that you think count in your story—you know, you have accomplished this and you have accomplished this and you have accomplished this—it doesn’t, it doesn’t count. It doesn’t count.
But what counts is that joy that you carry in your heart, that appreciation that you carry in your heart, that clarity that you carry in your heart, that peace that you carry with you wherever you go. That’s what counts; that’s what’s important.
You know, I mean, looking at this thing.... So, today, this morning, I was just gathering some numbers. The world has—the coronavirus cases are well in the 3 million, ninety-nine thousand three hundred and ninety-five. The deaths around the world, two hundred and thirteen thousand, six hundred and twenty-one—and they’re going up all the time.
“People recovered” is nearing almost a million—nine hundred and forty-three thousand, nine hundred and forty recovered. The U.S.A. alone is over a million people—yeah, a million, one million, sixteen thousand six hundred and ninety-two total cases. Total deaths, 57,132. And totally recovered, U.S.A., 39,834—of course, these figures are changing.
But then there was the Spanish flu. I looked up Wikipedia and—“The Spanish flu, also known as the 1918 flu pandemic”—this was a very deadly virus; it killed a lot of people. So, estimated that it killed “anywhere from 17 to 50 million” people, “and . . . as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in human history.”
And India was hit very, very hard with it—in fact, in India, it was “12-17 million people,” they figure, alone, that died. There wasn’t any wood to cremate people in India. And in fact, it was one of the things that—the whole thing was mishandled by the then, colonial rule—that gave, you know, the impetus to a lot of people to get independence.
So, you know, these things—it’s not like this hasn’t happened before; it has actually happened, but in much worse of an environment—much, much worse. I am just shocked at some of the countries who are not taking any action. And this is what happened back then.
So, again, and the main—but the main point of all of this is, “Please, stay sane; stay healthy; be well—and be.”
This is your life, your existence. You need to be in joy because that is still a possibility. That marriage, that coming together of the infinite and the finite is taking place still in your life, whatever the outside circumstances—maybe they’re not pleasant. But there is something very pleasant inside of you. Focus on that; focus on the good. This is the time to focus on the good.
So, thank you very much—and I’ll talk to you later.
