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The Possibility of Peace
Bunya International Seminar, Hiroshima, Japan
Prem Rawat:
What is this thing called a conflict that can possess a human being—to such an extent that mass devastation becomes acceptable? Now, let’s stop there; that’s pretty intense. After all, I’m here to talk about peace. I’m not here to scare you. So, let’s try to understand “What is this conflict?”
A few days ago, I was in Australia—and where I was, we were talking about digging a hole—we needed to dig a hole. So I said to the architect; I said, “Oh!” (I was just joking. I was just—you know, I have.... I like humor; I like to laugh....)
So I said, “Oh, by the way, this hole is going to be really cheap. Because we already have a hole—a few miles away we already have a hole; all we need to do is bring that hole and put it here!” And I was laughing; the architect was laughing....
Then I started thinking, “Oh my God. How do you move a hole? Can you move a hole? Can you actually move a hole...?” So, here is the question: “A hole is, or isn’t?”
Is that that difficult of a question? “Is a hole, ‘is’ or ‘isn’t’?” [Audience: Isn’t.] Are you sure? [Inds: Definitely.] You are sure—you’re sure a hole isn’t?
But don’t we go, “There is a hole there”? (Be careful.) “There is a hole there.” So, if a hole isn’t, how can it be there? So, is a—what, well, excuse me, which one is it? Is it, “there is a hole,” or a, “not a hole”?
So, I think I have found a flaw in peoples’—the way people express. Right? There’s a flaw. We say, “There is a hole”—and we really have started to think of a hole as something that there is, when a hole is not! (I don’t know how to express this. The English language isn’t quite designed for this.)
So, just like the hole, we think anger is something. What if anger is a hole? What if confusion is a hole? What if conflict is a hole? Because if you’re trying to treat a hole as some thing, then my logic that I expressed to the architect would be correct; “This hole will be cheap because we already have one. We just bring the hole here and we’ll be done.”
So, we want peace? And we know, (this is what we have been told), “How we’re going to get peace? Stop the war.” But what if war is a hole? Nothing in itself—it’s a hole; it’s a—it is lacking something; it is a negative. It is not a positive; it is a negative. It cannot be manipulated; it cannot be moved; it cannot be changed. It’s an absence, not a presence.
Peace is presence. Absence of peace is war—and we are trying to get rid of war—and the only way you can get rid of war is not by trying to stop the wars. But it’s to bring the peace, because peace is; war isn’t!
So if our strategy is to try to manipulate a negative, we will never be successful. People go, “It is human nature to want to fight.” I disagree. It is not human nature to want to fight. It’s not true. In fact, if you look at history, there have been more times when people have not fought, than fought.
What is the state of the world today? There is more to eat than there ever has been. Over forty-five percent of the food produced is wasted—there is more food now than there ever has been, and there are still wars continuing—why? What creates this conflict? Aha—can’t manipulate the conflict because it is an absence.
In you, you have to realize—that in you lies the peace. What is peace? Is peace some idea? “Utopia,” is that what peace is? “Everybody will be dancing. Everybody will have flowers in their hair. Everybody will go like this: ‘Peace, peace.’ Nobody will argue. No problems in the parking lots.”
Is your vision of peace a utopia? Is it? If it is, you’re mistaken. Because what does “utopia” mean? Do you know what utopia means? Utopia comes from two words, ou, Greek, meaning, “not”—and topography, meaning “place.” Utopia actually means “no place.” It actually means “no place.” And so everybody has a dream about this place that doesn’t exist. That’s not peace.
So let me tell you what peace is. Peace is all that is good in you. Peace is the serenity in you. Peace is the kindness in you. Peace is the gentleness in you. Peace is the understanding in you. Peace is the appreciation in you. Peace is the light in your heart. Peace is the joy in you. Peace is the Divine in you. Peace is the acceptance of the blessing in you.
Peace is the coming and going of this breath in you. Peace is the beauty that you are.
You have woken up to your world—but you have not woken up to this one thing called “life.” You know everything about this world. You know it’s round; you know there is a sun; you know there is a moon; you know there are stars; you know there are oceans; you know about this world.
You also know there are wars; you also know there’s hunger; you also know there is famine; you also know there’s fire; you also know there are storms; you also know there are hurricanes; you also know there are typhoons.
You know about your world—but do you know about life? And life begins with this breath—breath—and in this life there’s the possibility of peace. In this life there is the possibility of understanding; in this life there is the possibility of knowing. There is the sun—that gives light, not eight, nine, ten, eleven hours a day—but day and night, that lights up your heart.
Wake up to the world of life. Wake up to the world of joy. Wake up to this inner beauty, this existence. This is the song you need to hear.
This song, the song of life, makes your heart dance. You feel good, not because of what you might get; you feel good, not because of what you have lost—but you feel good because what you understand you have been given is the greatest gift of all.
