Public Library

The ancient beat plays within

The endless song is being sung

Be in sync

With the drums of your heart

- Prem Rawat

What does it mean to appreciate life?

To savor each moment of the day.

To feel gratitude with every breath.

To experience the timeless, even as time slips away.

To set aside our burdens and feel comfortable with life.

What would it be like to welcome each day as an opportunity for joy?

-Prem Rawat

Onscreen text:

"It’s all about hope. You’ve got to have hope."

-Peace Education Program Participant

New Directions for Veterans, Los Angeles

Prem Rawat: [voiceover]

Life is a beautiful thing. This is what we have. This is the limited thing that we have. It’s about you being alive at this moment in time, on this planet Earth.

Onscreen text:

"Make the most of being alive—enjoy the self."

-Peace Education Program Participant

Twin Towers Jail, Los Angeles

Prem Rawat: [voiceover]

And what kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? Because that is going to be determined with what you feel in yourself. If you feel good being alive, if you feel good to be here, then what you’re going to leave behind for other people is something that is beautiful!

Onscreen text:

"From now on I will seek my peace. After all, if we plant good things, we will reap good things."

-Peace Education Program Participant

Pinheiros Prison, São Paulo, Brazil

Prem Rawat: [voiceover]

This is the message that I am trying to deliver to the world today, that I have been doing for fifty-one-plus years now—and this year I’m going to be turning sixty. Maybe my body is aging, but my heart isn’t; my mind isn’t. And I want to take this message to as many people as possible.

Why? Because the joy that it brings them, the excitement that it brings them—just how they feel after they go, “Wow, somebody told me how it really is, not all these ideas, but how it really is—that, yes, my time on this earth is precious. That I’m alive, and that’s a blessing! And I need to accept that. And I need to understand what it means to live in peace."

Onscreen text:

"Peace gives me hope. Peace gives me love. Peace gives me a strength I’ve never known."

-Peace Education Program Participant

Twin Towers Jail, Los Angeles

Onscreen text:

Prem Rawat: [voiceover]

Because when somebody feels good inside of them, not only it ripples out to themselves, but to all the people around them, to the family, to the friends, to the colleagues—and this is what’s important.

Onscreen text:

"Mr. Rawat, your teachings have taught me to appreciate every day and to be thankful for what I have. In here, that means a lot. Thank you."

-Peace Education Program Participant

Valley State Prison, Chowchilla, California

Prem Rawat: [voiceover]

This is my effort, taking the message to people to make a change, to make a difference.

Onscreen text:

"I’m proud to say today I have my happy back, and the smile on my face  is genuine and real!"

-Peace Education Program Participant

Twin Towers Jail, Los Angeles

Prem Rawat: [voiceover]

Summer comes. Winter comes. Summer comes again. This is the drama that plays out on this planet Earth again and again. But in this big drama, there are little dramas being played out—and these little dramas are the dramas of your life: you, one day feeling good, one day not feeling so good.

But what is common to all of you? Do you know? The most common thing to all of you—which you do not recognize—is one of those things that is at once the most powerful—the most powerful—and at once so quiet, so gentle that you almost would not notice it.

And what is it? It is your quest—your quest, your thirst, your want, your wish to be content. That it is your thirst, your quest, your want, your wish, your desire to be fulfilled. It is your wish, your want, your desire to be in peace. In peace.

A question needs to be asked that, “Whatever may be happening in my life at any given time”—in the time of joy, in the time of pain, in the time of pleasure, in the time of suffering—“whatever is happening, is it bringing me closer to me?” Because if it isn’t, and it’s removing me from myself—removing me from myself—then something is drastically wrong. Drastically.

Now, I know, for a lot of people, this becomes a very serious subject, because there is always that question, “Who am I? Who are you?” And even though a lot of people have thought about that question, there isn’t a certainty of an answer. Nobody has got it pegged: “Oh yeah, that’s what I am.”

Because everybody gets their information—some people go read books; some people have discussions; some people follow this; some people follow that. And I’m not here to try to present to you another path, another way, another idea, another philosophy. I’m really here to tell you, “You’re alive.”

So when I say, “You are alive,” I am saying something so precious, so beautiful, so simple, that you really have to look at it for what it is worth—and it is worth everything. It is worth your existence. It is worth....

All your aspirations, all your dreams are in that. And what do you truly aspire for? You aspire to be content. This is the want; this is the desire: to be. To be content. Now, everything that we do in that world is for that little contentment, for that little gratification, somehow, somewhere, that we may have that.

I am not saying that you should become a monk and go on top of some solitary mountain and sit down, and then you will have contentment. Unh-unh! Did you hear me say that?

And people are already going, “No-no-no-no, just, you know, live in this world.... Party!” Did I say you shouldn’t party? But if you’re going to party, party the best possible way. Party—that’s fun. Fun!

And so here’s the twist. Living your life consciously is the most fun a human being can have on this earth. Confusion is the worst nightmare, because all it does is spirals you more, and more, and more, and more, and more, up till the point that you’ve lost your clarity, your understanding, and indeed, yourself.

You are the source of joy. The peace that you need is not the world peace, but the peace within yourself. The truth is not at the bottom of the ocean or top of a mountain, but within your own heart.

Peace is your strength! Have you learned how to garner it every single day?

We cannot survive more than three minutes without air, three hours without warmth—our environment—three weeks without food, three days without water. Do you know, for your inner journey, where your water is? Do you? That it lies within you?

And so, people ask, “Well if it lies within me, then what do I need to do?” The science—understand the science of thirst: “Science of thirst.” You know what this thirst does to a person?

Okay, so when you’re not thirsty, everything is, “Oh, yes, hello. Hello. Hello. How are you? How are you? Would you like a glass of water?” “Oh, no, I am fine; I’m okay, just, it’s I’d like it, that’s, dah, da-dah, dah!” You’re not thirsty.

Then you start to get thirsty—your lips start to get dry, “Hmmm....” And still you’re going, “Oh, yes, yes, we have to have this, and yes, yes, we have to do this, and yes, yes, we have to do this.”

And you get more thirsty and more thirsty and more thirsty and more thirsty and more thirsty and—well, eventually that thirst will say, “Excuse me; everything, come to a grinding halt. I need a glass of water!” The thirst for water will clarify what is the priority; the thirst for the self will also clarify what is the priority.

So, this opportunity called “life” that you have—which isn’t that much, comparatively speaking—and by the way, I did forget to tell you, that’s a little too long. But no matter how much I practice, I can’t cut the time back—but that is a little too long. It’s less than a second.

And in this “less than a second,” everything, all the dramas are going to play out, all your dramas are going to, all your dramas are going to play out. And which one do you want to win the Academy Award for? Complaining? Confusion? Or something real?

Somebody told me once—this gentleman in India—and one day he came home. And he came home, and his first child said, “Hey, Dad! I have to get these shoes; otherwise I’m not going to school tomorrow.” And the second son came, “Um, and you know what? My bag is finished; I have to have a new bag, otherwise I can’t go to school tomorrow.”

Upon hearing the two sons say all this, the mother also heard this, and came out and said, “Well you know what? And we need dahl; we need this; we need this; we need this; we need this—without this, no food tomorrow.”

And the man had just come from an office—hard day’s work, mmm? And he looked at his family—and he goes, “If I’m not happy, how can I make you happy? If I am not happy, how can I make you happy?” Astute observation. Very keen observation, very accurate observation. Incredibly, incredibly accurate observation.

If you understand that the peace is within you, and the thirst for peace is within you, then you have taken the biggest step towards realizing peace in your life.

Whatever may happen, whatever may come, whatever may go, the reality of it is, your want for peace will be there. The reason for peace will be there. And the way to be able to fulfill that peace will also be there.

What are the desires? To be content, to be fulfilled—and the real thirst to be in joy, to be clear! To be clear, not to be in doubt. Doubt is not human-compatible. Anger is not human-compatible.

How did we get where we are? We started off on the right track—we started off on the right track, oh, absolutely. The thirst in each one of us to be in joy, to be in contentment was there. That’s when we were young, babies.

All we wanted every day: “Bring it on; let it come.” Never bored! Never bored of contentment! Never bored of enjoying, never bored of joy, never bored from happiness.

And of course, you know, our parents: “Oh, here, play with this.” And a baby? A foot is fine. A foot is okay! All day long, “Umm! And look what I found.”

You had a real connection, a real thirst for joy, a real connection with joy. And in your life, even when you could walk, you would walk for one reason! You would go, and see, “Am I happy? Is this fun? Is this good?” If not? Chup, turn—turn; look; find. So far that joy was coming, so far that happiness was there, it was all good.

And the focus gets lost. So when I go to people to talk to them about peace? You see, I know where peace is. I do. It’s in you—been in you all this time. It’ll be there till your last breath—till your last breath.

But what you need to do is to find your thirst, not for explanations; tsk, tsk! Not for explanations. Live your life with a thirst and a focus, and you’ll succeed at whatever you want. That’s my suggestion. That’s my suggestion.

Stop chasing the signs of water. Stop chasing the signs of water. In a dry river bed, there are signs of water everywhere. You can see exactly where the, say, water carved this out, and carved that out, and did this, and did this, and did this. But you cannot water your plants with those signs.

Water is water; it cannot be substituted. Find the water—the water that dwells within you, the answer that is waiting to be recognized.

You are looking for peace, and peace is looking for you. And what do you need to do? Be still. Stop running around. Be still, so that the peace can find you.

You have in you the love that you’ve been looking for. You have in you the joy that you have been looking for. You have in you the truth that you have been looking for. You have in you the divine that you have been looking for.

We’re the ones that need the peace, my friends; we are the ones. And the only way there is going to be any peace in this world is when we are at peace. Nothing else will work.

We are the lamps that need to be lit. Light this lamp. Be alive; be thankful; be conscious in your life.

- Prem Rawat

You have this life. That is important. That is true. That is real. Given that you have this incredible opportunity to have this thing called “life,” what would you do with it? Would you squander it away? Or, would you embrace it and make the most of it?

One moment lost is not a moment that is coming back. Such is the severity of this subject. This life has to be lived consciously. You cannot afford anything else but that simple singularity in your life—to pursue that one thing that is nothing less than fulfillment every single day.

What does it mean to open your eyes, to understand this rhythm, this dance that is everywhere, this beauty that is vying for your attention? Delight. Embrace this life. Take in the joy that your heart wants you to feel. It’s there to be felt every day.

In the contrast of everything that’s going on in your life, this is happening; that’s happening. And you’re trying to cope and cope and cope, trying to make things better and better.

And you have your hopes and dreams and ideas. And you look at the world, and you look at yourself, and you want the world to be good. And some days, you want to be good. And you want your neighbor to be good, and you want your cat to be good, and your dog to be good. And you want all these things to be good.

And this is your pursuit. It sounds ridiculous. Your clothes, your shoes, your car, your friends—is that what life is?

And in this business of “late” and “late” and “late,” one day it will become too late.

I never want it to be too late for you to be fulfilled. It doesn’t matter who you are, how old you are, how intelligent you are. You have got to have a plan. And what is the plan? “If I wasted today, I’m not going to waste another second lamenting that I wasted today. I’ll come up with a plan for tomorrow. I will try a little harder”—and that’s all it takes.

That’s all it takes, to be a little more conscious. Be focused; be conscious. And most importantly, enjoy every single moment of this life.

Based on an excerpt from Prem Rawat’s presentation in: MIAMI, FLORIDA, USA