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Seeds of Peace
Lambeth College, London, UK
Prem Rawat:
It’s an honor to be here this evening. And, you know, you have heard a lot, and what we are here to talk about is not particularly a pleasant subject that’s at the root of it, all this violence that’s going on. So let me just spend a few minutes here telling you about a human being.
A human being is someone who carries in their heart an ocean of kindness. A human being is someone who has in them a tremendous amount of strength. A human being is someone who carries within them an amazing amount of wisdom.
Now, I know some of you are sitting here; it’s like, “What are you talking about? What, what aliens are you talking about?” No, no, I’m not talking about aliens; I’m talking about human beings. This is who we are.
The question is, “If we have this tremendous amount of wisdom in us, if we have this tremendous amount of kindness in us, if we have this tremendous amount of joy in us, why are we not expressing it; why are we not sharing it; why are we here today talking about these heinous crimes that are taking place?”
Lying and cheating? Where does a child learn lying from? Did they go to a school? No, from their own parents. The child is sitting there; the mother was speeding; a police officer pulls her over: “You were speeding.” “No, I wasn’t.” (And this is after the child has already warned the mother, “Mom, are you speeding?”) And what’s the solution—“Shhhh! Shhhh!” What has happened?
We are willing—we are willing to throw away fifty percent of good food—but not share anything. What happened? What happened? And there are people going, “You know, the world’s going hungry.” And here we are in the First World countries just throwing the food away—and going “Oh yeah, that’s a real problem.” That’s not the problem. We are the problem.
Now when we say, “We are the problem,” consider this to be really good news. “We are the problem, by the way”—that’s good news! You know why that’s good news? Because if it’s us, we can change it. But if this is coming from Mars, we’ve got a problem. If this is coming from Venus, we’ve got a problem.
But this is actually coming from right here, on this earth, created by us—and if we want to change, we can change it. That’s why it’s good news. And what is it going to take? It’s going to take collective effort—nobody excluded. Nobody excluded.
I’m not here to point fingers. Because I still hold this to be true, that there is an ocean of kindness in each one of us. I still hold this to be true, that there is an ocean of wisdom in each one of us. And all it is waiting for is to be brought out.
When I see in this world, this despair.... What is despair? It is the opposite of hope. When there is no hope, there’s desperation—desperation. And this desperation, we all see it. But what is on the other side of the coin? If one side is desperation, the other side of the coin is hope. If one side is anger, then the other side is forgiveness.
And we, we just have to understand—that in the darkness, the light is never far away. (I can prove that.) How long does it take, after you turn off the light, for darkness to take over? In a pitch dark room, you turn off the light. How long does it take—it’s instant. It was just waiting! The light goes out; darkness comes in. Light comes; darkness flees. It’s how simple it is.
We live in the most dynamic, in the most amazing place there is—and yet we don’t acknowledge that. But we’re too busy concocting how we can hurt each other, concocting all these wars.
The same mind, believe me, that can create these wars is quite capable of pursuing peace. The same person who can carry a knife and plunge it into another human being, is quite capable of not only stopping it, but giving kindness and attention, and preventing it. What do we want? What do we want? That’s the question; “What do we want?”
Do we want these wars? And I know there are people right now, going, “Well, what can I do about it? I, ah-yeah, I don’t know.... And I don’t; I don’t; I don’t; I don’t....”
The time to “I don’t, I,” and “I, I”—stop it. The time to “I’m, I,” and “why, why” is finished! The time has come, and rightfully so, to acknowledge the possibility of a human being, what it means.
We live in this world—and I was reading a book—and in this book it said, “Oh, yeah! The economy of Greece is not doing so well. The Syrians are at war; Jordan is filling up with refugees. Iran is getting ready for the big war. And Egypt has high instability.”
And then the book went on to say, “Oh, this isn’t from 2012, 13 or 14 or 15 or 16 or 17 or 18—this is news from 1177 BC.” And I’m like, “Whaat? This has happened before?” And the answer is, “Yup! This has happened before.” And will it happen again? Yes, it’ll happen again. And will it happen again? Yes, it’ll happen again—unless we, we, we intervene.
Peace isn’t the problem. Why is peace possible—how dare I, do I say peace is possible? How dare do I say that? Should I not acknowledge the condition of the world and say, “This is a pathetic world—and we are warmongers”? No! Yes, we are warmongers—but by the same token, we carry in us an ocean of peace.
Peace doesn’t have to be created, my friends. Peace doesn’t have to be brought from Mars; peace doesn’t have to be generated. Peace is already within inside of us. It has to be discovered. We have discovered how to make wars—now it is time to discover how to make peace. And this is what has to happen.
Don’t do it for patting your back—because you won’t be able to. Do it because your heart will applaud for you. Not for your mind—but your heart will applaud for you, again and again and again and again. Make a difference—because you can. Make a difference in your little environment.
A mother says, “What can I do?” A mother says, “What can I do?” Love your child. You’ve made a difference. Love your child! Give that child the attention. Talk to that child; engage that child. When you don’t engage that child, then you are basically saying your child is dumb and stupid. Engage that child; talk to them. Talk to them.
We live in a society that is incredibly vulnerable. Why? Just go.... (And I don’t want to sit here and really point a finger at the problem.) But “entertainment” today is when you can pick up a virtual gun and shoot as many people as you can—it’s called “game.”
And I am always like, “Whaat? Whaat!? That’s not what it should be about!” Make a game—in which you get to express your kindness! Make a game in which you get to express your joy; make a game that’s not boring....
Because everybody thinks the subject of peace is boring, and the subject of kindness is boring, subject of wisdom is boring. And when people have already surrendered to that fact, I’ll tell you what will happen in this world. What will happen is what is happening right now. People will be slaughtered; people will be massacred; people will be displaced.... Civilizations will be in peril....
I was just—last year I was in Colombia. And some of these kids were kidnapped and taken to the jungle, in the forest. They were handed guns—they didn’t play with toys; they played with guns! And all their lives, all they did was kill, kill, kill, kill, kill. And when finally, repatriation came up, they didn’t know how—till they went through the Peace Education Program.
Be a part of your own life. Be a part of your own life. Be a part of your own world. Be a part of your own family. Be a part of who you really are. Most importantly, know thyself. Know who you are. That’s all.
