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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

You can make one lifetime the most incredible time.

As human beings living on the face of this earth, there is a lot that is good. But there are certain habits we have that are not so good. And one of the bad habits is that we are so attracted to distractions. And in this life, that’s a bad habit! Because it robs you of the essential things that you need in this life to make this a beautiful occasion.

This is the possibility; this is what you can do. You can make one lifetime the most incredible time.

We, on this journey.... You know, it’s a bit like an exit to the ocean—a channel—and all these people are going in that channel to go out into the ocean. And you see a dockage and a sign: “If you want to make this journey comfortable, pull in here.”

And somebody inside says, “Can I help you?” “Yeah, I would like this journey to be nice—comfortable, beautiful.” He says, “Okay, I’ve got this stuff. Take it with you.” And what is it? He hands him gallons and gallons of water.

People say, “Agh! I don’t need water. I’m going to be surrounded by water. I don’t need water!” “Ah, ah, ah, well, wait, wait, but you can’t really drink that water. You need clean fresh water—so take some water with you. A compass?” “I don’t need a compass. I’ve got a compass in my boat!”

“Yeah, but in case you have to abandon your boat, get into the raft, if you have a compass that you can have in your pocket, then wherever you go, you will have a compass. You will not be dependent on this boat to have a compass.”

“I don’t need a compass. I don’t need this. I don’t need that.” All the excuses come up. And what is it that people say? “Ah, you’re just wasting my time. I could have been on my way.” Sorry! Be on your way.

Then when you get out there, and the waves go, “oh-whooo!” But, to pull in, to listen to what is being said, that there are those times when the problems become so unsurmountable, that all the strength that you thought you had, you don’t. Those waves get big. The boat gets small. Then what do you do?

It’s not a joy ride! It’s not something you can just say, “Okay, that’s enough. I’m going to pull over.” No. You go back; you’ve got to go through the same waves. You go forward; you’ve got to go through the same waves. When the problems become unsurmountable, what strength do you need?

You do not like the big waves. Remember, though, for the ocean, it’s normal. You like what you like—those flat, calm waters, no waves. Everything just beautiful, still. And you even will make a comment, “Look how still the water is.” This is not normal. This is abnormal.

In this grind of this world, the good and bad are like on a wheel, keeps going, keeps coming, keeps going, keeps coming, keeps going, keeps coming. But what precaution have you taken? That’s the question. The size of the wave is not under your control. But the precaution you can take is under your control.

And when you have found a way to be able to anchor yourself in that ocean, in this breath, then you have taken proper and correct precautions. In this breath—to find your home in this breath, to find your anchor in this breath. To find, indeed, your reality in this breath.

It’s a matter of perceptions. Because it is through your perceptions that you see that which is fake, so real. The illusion—that is why it is an illusion, because it appears so real.

You have to walk; you have to go; you have to proceed. If you proceed in understanding, if you proceed in clarity, if you proceed with this heart, if you proceed with consciousness, the journey will not only be successful, but very joyful.

-Prem Rawat

Excerpt from Thousand Oaks, California